Can I do a chest X-ray during breastfeeding?

Medical examination during lactation

For breastfeeding mothers, whether medical auxiliary examination is safe mainly depends on whether radiation will accumulate in the breast and milk, and whether the contrast agent will be absorbed. If the baby's body absorbs it, it will endanger the health of the baby.

Safe examinations during breastfeeding include: B-ultrasound, X-ray (including any part of the body), CT/MRI plain scan (including any part of the body), positron emission tomography (PET), and infrared examination. Mothers can breastfeed immediately after the examination. These examinations will not accumulate radiation in the breasts, so there will be no abnormalities in the milk that will affect the baby, nor will the secretion of milk be reduced. However, when doing a breast examination, breasts filled with milk may not be conducive to the doctor's observation. The doctor will advise the mother to empty her breasts before doing the examination.

When performing enhanced CT/MRI, radioactive contrast agent needs to be injected into the body. For breastfeeding mothers, most contrast agents are safe, such as barium sulfate, magnesium solution, butyryl-iodofenic acid, gadolinium-containing agents, iodine-containing agents, etc. Although these contrast agents can enter breast milk, their oral bioavailability is very low. That is, even if they appear in breast milk, they cannot be absorbed by the baby's body after they are eaten in the stomach (cannot be absorbed orally). There are very few contrast agents that will affect breastfeeding during CT/MRI enhancement, such as manganese fodipir trisodium, because it will rapidly increase the manganese content in breast milk and be absorbed into the baby's body. It is generally recommended to wait at least 4 hours after the examination before breastfeeding. When breastfeeding mothers undergo enhanced CT/MRI, it is prudent to ask the doctor what the contrast agent is, and then find out the drug's oral bioavailability, average milk concentration and other information to determine whether breastfeeding can be started immediately. If you consider the effect on breastfeeding, wait 5-10 half-lives before breastfeeding.

Exogenous ionizing radiation (diagnostic X-ray examination: mainly including There is no need to stop breastfeeding.

Exogenous ionizing radiation (diagnostic X-ray examination) has no effect on breast milk, and subjects do not need to stop breastfeeding.