Is Sodium Phosphate safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Sodium Phosphate. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Phosphate is a normal constituent of breastmilk.[ 1 , 2 ] Infants normally receive about 130 mg of inorganic phosphate daily from breastmilk.[ 2 ] Maternal Levels. Administration of a 30 gram dose of oral sodium phosphate solution (e.g., Visicol) approximately doubles the maternal serum phosphate concentration, with serum concentrations returning to baseline about 24 hours after the dose.[ 3 , 4 ] Assuming breastmilk phosphate concentration also doubles, the increased phosphate dose to the infant would be only 130 mg for one day. Administration of a phosphate enema (2 Fleet Enemas, containing a total of 14 grams of sodium phosphate dibasic and 38 grams of sodium phosphate monobasic) to 33 subjects increased serum phosphate by an average of about 25% (range 0.1 to 2.5 mg/dL).[ 5 ] In one other patient, a phosphate enema (Practo Clyss 120, containing a total of 7.2 grams of sodium phosphate dibasic and 19.2 grams of sodium phosphate monobasic) increased serum phosphate by 35% (by 0.8 mmol/L) after a single dose.[ 6 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Sodium Phosphate is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.