Skip to main content
A baby bottle and a capsule: Can you take Latuda while breastfeeding?
Drug Info

Can you take Latuda while breastfeeding?

Although it may be safe to take Latuda while breastfeeding, it is important to consult your healthcare provider about what’s best for yourself and your baby
Wendy Wisner
By | Jul. 31, 2024 Medically reviewed by Leslie Greenberg, MD

Key takeaways

  • There is very little data about Latuda and breastfeeding and its effect on the nursing infant.

  • One case report of a single breastfeeding mother found no negative side effects on a nursing infant whose mother took Latuda.

  • The FDA recommends that breastfeeding parents consult with a healthcare professional to determine if Latuda is right for them while breastfeeding.

In this article:

Latuda is the brand name for lurasidone, an antipsychotic medication that’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults and teens ages 13 and older who have schizophrenia. It’s also approved to treat adults and children ages 10 and older who have major depressive disorder related to bipolar I disorder. Additionally, it can be used in adults in combination with lithium or valproate to treat major depressive episodes linked to bipolar I disorder.

If you are a pregnant or recently postpartum parent who takes Latuda, you may be wondering whether it is safe to take Latuda while breastfeeding. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Latuda and breastfeeding, including what the limited research tells us, what the risk of Latuda while breastfeeding may be, and any alternative medications to consider.

Can you take Latuda while breastfeeding?

It’s difficult to answer the question as to whether you can take Latuda while breastfeeding because the truth is that we don’t really know what happens to breastfed babies who have ingested Latuda in breast milk. The FDA recommends each individual make a decision about whether to take Latuda after discussing it with their healthcare provider. Together, they can consider the health benefits of breastfeeding and the potential negative side effects for the baby, along with the breastfeeding parent’s need to remain on Latuda for their mental health and well-being.

As Claudia Cometa, Pharm.D., founder and CEO at Peace Advocacy Group, points out, most healthcare providers look at the FDA-assigned pregnancy category of a medication to determine its safety during pregnancy and breastfeeding. In the case of Latuda, the FDA has classified it as Pregnancy Category B. This means that “animal studies were conducted and showed no risk to the fetus when given during pregnancy,” Cometa says. “It also means, however, that there are no adequate studies in humans.”

As for breastfeeding-specific research, “there are no controlled studies on the matter in humans,” Cometa notes. However, there is research that found that Latuda is excreted in the breast milk of rats. Since Latuda binds to 99% of plasma particles, it’s not likely that it would be found in large enough amounts in human breast milk to impact breastfeeding babies, according to the Drugs and Lactation Database, LactMed. 

There is one report of a single breastfeeding parent who took Latuda, also reported in LactMed. Sara Holt, certified nurse midwife and owner at Byenveni Baby, LLC, notes that one case report isn’t enough to make generalizations or recommendations about a particular medication. Still, the report found no concerning findings in the infant.

“As always, the use of this medication should be reviewed with your baby’s pediatric provider, and extra caution should be used with preterm or medically fragile infants,” Holt recommends.

Cometa agrees that given the lack of research currently available for Latuda, it’s best to ask a healthcare provider for medical advice about the best course of action for you and your baby. “Due to the limited research we have on Latuda in pregnancy and breastfeeding, the recommendation is to use Latuda only when the potential benefit to the mother outweighs the risk to the nursing child,” she says.

What are the risks of taking Latuda while breastfeeding?

Due to limited research, we don’t know what the risk of taking Latuda during breastfeeding may be. 

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out, most medications (prescription and over-the-counter) pass into breast milk, but the majority of them don’t have adverse effects on milk supply or the baby’s health or well-being. In general, there are few medications that should be strictly prohibited.

According to the one published case study about Latuda and breastfeeding, as summarized in LactMed, there were no obvious negative adverse effects on the infant whose mother took Latuda. This mother had depressive-type schizoaffective disorder and took 40 milligrams (mg) of Latuda daily after giving birth. She exclusively breastfed her baby, and the infant was found to have low amounts of Latuda in their blood serum (0.05 mcg/L). The baby was followed for 39 days, and at the end of this period, the baby was found to have overall good growth and development.

Besides how Latuda might impact breastfeeding infants, Holt says it’s important to consider how the medication might impact your milk supply. “Latuda (like many antipsychotic medications) may cause an increase in prolactin, which could lead to a decrease in milk supply,” she says, pointing to a recent study that showed that 2.4% of patients treated with Latuda developed high prolactin levels.

The Academy of American Pediatrics recommends deciding whether or not to take a medication while breastfeeding in collaboration with your healthcare provider, keeping the following in mind:

  • Only take medication when 100% necessary.
  • Take the lowest dose of the medication for the shortest amount of time.
  • Use short-acting medications when possible (meaning they are eliminated from your body faster than long-acting versions of the medication).
  • Watch your baby for possible poor reactions, including decreased appetite, trouble sleeping, decreased muscle tone, excess drowsiness and sedation, crying, vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes.

What can I take instead of Latuda while breastfeeding?

It’s crucial that people living with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are treated effectively for their mental health conditions. If untreated, these conditions can cause an increased risk of adverse side effects like suicidal thoughts and psychosis. If you and your healthcare provider determine that Latuda isn’t the best choice for you to take while breastfeeding, you should discuss psychotropic drug alternatives.

Holt says that we don’t have much robust data on other antipsychotic drugs during breastfeeding, either. Her advice is to take medications that are known to have the lowest medication levels in breast milk, such as Zyprexa (olanzapine) and Seroquel (quetiapine). 

RELATED: Latuda vs. Seroquel

“We have not seen significant side effects on infants of parents that take these medications while breastfeeding,” Holt says. “However, this should not be interpreted to mean that you cannot breastfeed while taking Latuda or other antipsychotic medications. We just don’t have strong data at this point.”

The decision of whether to take Latuda while breastfeeding is sometimes a complicated one. It requires an analysis of the risks and benefits to both the mother and the child. That’s why it’s critical that you seek medical advice from a healthcare provider to make a decision that works for yourself and your baby.

Sources