Maternal Intravenous Diazepam and Neonatal Outcomes Differed From Oral Premedication Findings

Route and dose should not be collapsed into a single exposure label.

What the supplied paper reports

A retrospective series followed 298 breastfed term neonates after maternal postpartum procedures involving ketamine and diazepam. Higher intravenous diazepam exposure was associated with weight-loss and phototherapy outcomes, while oral premedication did not show the same association.

Study limits

Milk concentrations were not measured, treatment was not randomized and infant follow-up was incomplete for some outcomes. Other maternal and neonatal factors may influence the findings.

Forensic implications

Specify route, cumulative exposure and the particular infant endpoint. The report cannot directly establish the dose transferred through milk or prove drug causation in a single infant. Reassuring absence of severe outcomes also cannot exclude uncommon or unmeasured effects.

Source and related reading

Source: PMC7874624, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.

Related: Oral and Intravenous Midazolam Probes Answered Different Questions in a Napabucasin Study.