Mothersafe

Mothersafe began in 2000, as a free telephone helpline and website for the women of NSW. Started by Dr Debra Kennedy, a renowned clinical geneticist, who returned from Canada and established the free service. Mothersafe offers evidence based advice to pregnant women and breastfeeding women, who are concerned about medications, exposure to infections or occupational hazards. This amazing service is based at the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick.

Mothersafe can be contacted by phone (02 9382 6539) Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm, or you can access their website at any time.

Mothersafe provides up to date information regarding:

• Prescription drugs

• Over the counter medications

• Street drugs

• Infections

• Radiation

• Occupational exposures

Mothersafe also produces excellent factsheets on a variety of topics, about pregnancy and breastfeeding, that can be downloaded from their website.

The range of available factsheets include:

• Cold Sores

• Heartburn

• Haemorrhoids

• Vitamins

• Influenza vaccination

• Caffeine

• Skin care, hair care and cosmetic treatments

There are factsheets specifically relating to pregnancy, such as:

• Alcohol consumption in pregnancy

• Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

• Hay fever and allergy in pregnancy

•  Common cold and flu in pregnancy

• Travel in pregnancy

• Fever and pregnancy

• Thrush in pregnancy

and fact sheets specifically pertaining to breastfeeding:

• Alcohol consumption in breastfeeding

• Emergency contraception and breastfeeding

• Surgery and breastfeeding