Q&A With Author Kaytlin Krutsch, PharmD, MBA, BCPS
Q&A With The New Co-Author of Hale’s Medications & Mothers’ Milk
We asked Kaytlin Krutsch, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, a couple of important questions about her work in the world of lactation pharmacology and the impact of this incredible resource! Here are her answers:
Q: What brings passion to your work?
A: It touches so many things I love: maternal health, feminism, pharmacology, nutrition, education, progress, and practical application to clinical service. Plus…I have a daughter, have experienced the issues our moms and providers have, and am currently 6 months pregnant.
Q: What is your role in making breastfeeding a safer process?
A: Everything… I specialize in the creation and translation of breastfeeding medication research. For me, this means the entire process. Most researchers stop at publishing the answer to their questions. We find out the risk involved (quantifying drug in milk, identifying infant outcomes) but don’t stop until the information is in the hands of the decision-maker.
Q: Do you have any advice for lactation consultants or clinicians in the field?
A: If I had to choose my top three peices of advice, they would be-
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The topic of medication use in breastfeeding moms belongs to ALL adult healthcare providers—spread the word! LCs, pediatricians, and obstetricians are all invested in the topic but don’t write most of the prescriptions for breastfeeding moms. It’s primary care. Urgent care. Specialists. Help them understand what you know!
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Be prepared for information to change. There is much more research being done involving breastfeeding moms than in the past—which means more answers!
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Overall, we do a much better job of protecting babies from potential risks of drugs in milk than we do in looking out for mom’s health. With the extension of breastfeeding timeframes (like the AAP’s recent move from 12 to 24 months of breastfeeding), maternal medication use will become even more of a pressing issue. Also…FYI: the reason for the 12-to-24-month extension? Maternal health benefits of breastfeeding (not the infants!). But what about when moms overlook their own medication need to continue breastfeeding? It’s a conundrum and usually doesn’t need to be an issue as most meds are safe during breastfeeding.
Q: In your opinion, what makes Hale’s Medications & Mothers’ Milk 2023 the best resource for clinicians?
A: It’s practical. We know how time-consuming it is to go through the research, and what it takes to be able to really evaluate what is being presented. We remove that step for clinicians and produce straightforward evaluations of what they need to know.
Many sources might provide information, or information summaries, but are afraid to fill in the gaps. Even when we don’t have clear information, we do our best to estimate what we expect, and what to look for if benefits outweigh risks. We’re not going to leave a clinician with the burden of working it out for themselves.
Q: Why is keeping mothers breastfeeding so important?
A: Maternal outcomes! For every 20 women we keep breastfeeding for a year, we prevent 1 case of breast cancer. And that is only looking at breast cancer—there are so many other benefits: less diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular events - the list goes on.
Q: What are some difficulties you face in the research process? What are some wins?
A: There are so many topics that need attention, and we must strategically pick which ones to pursue (or not). Wins: We love when we can collaborate with other researchers with the same questions. Milk is hard to work with and we’re one of the few people who know how to do it. It’s a barrier for many groups to answer the questions they have. The more people we can teach to work with milk, the more answers we will get! I’m hoping for a domino effect.
Q: How will your research benefit clinicians and breastfeeding mothers?
A: Haha. That’s pretty much our entire goal: to do research that benefits clinicians, breastfeeding moms, and their infants.
It’s about reproductive justice. Women (and their clinicians) should be allowed the opportunity to make informed choices about their medication, and their health. We are working on protecting women through research, not from it.