Can I take diazepam while pregnant or breastfeeding?

Pregnancy Pregnancy Exposure Registry There is a pregnancy registry that monitors pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to psychiatric medications, including Valium, during pregnancy. Healthcare providers are encouraged to register patients by calling the National Pregnancy Registry for Psychiatric Medications at 1-866-961-2388 or visiting online at https://womensmentalhealth.org/pregnancyregistry/.

Prescribing label, section “Pregnancy” (opening excerpt): Valium (oral), Waylis Therapuetics LLC. Read the full section on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.

Diazepam is excreted into breastmilk and it and its active metabolite, nordiazepam, accumulate in the serum of breastfed infants with repeated doses. Because the half-life of diazepam and nordiazepam are long, timing breastfeeding with respect to the dose is of little or no benefit in reducing infant exposure. A safety scoring system finds diazepam possible to use cautiously during breastfeeding.[1] One study found that a high dose of diazepam given during tubal ligation surgery increased the risk of infant weight loss and hyperbilirubinemia postoperatively. Other agents are preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. After a single dose of diazepam, as for sedation before a procedure or for a seizure, there is usually no need to wait to resume breastfeeding, although with a newborn or preterm infant, a cautious approach would be to wait a period of 6 to 8 hours before resuming nursing. During long-term use, monitor the infant for sedation, poor feeding and poor weight gain.

“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Diazepam” (LM349), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Diazepam while breastfeeding.

Nursing Mothers Diazepam is present in breastmilk. There are reports of sedation, poor feeding, and poor weight gain in infants exposed to benzodiazepines through breast milk. Because of the potential for serious adverse reaction, including sedation and withdrawal symptoms in breastfed infants, advise patient that breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with Valium.

Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Valium (oral), Waylis Therapuetics LLC. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.