FDA Warns Nursing Mothers Against Using Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning individuals not to use or purchase a product called Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream, as it contains potentially harmful ingredients that may cause respiratory distress or vomiting and diarrhea in infants. The product may also cause skin dermatitis in the nursing mother.
The product, which is marketed by MOM Enterprises, Inc., is meant to soothe and heal dry or cracked nipples in nursing mothers. Product labeling specifically states that mothers do not need to remove the cream prior to nursing. However, the product’s ingredients – chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol ─ may be harmful to nursing infants. Chlorphenesin relaxes skeletal muscle and can depress the central nervous system and cause respiratory distress (slow or shallow breathing) in infants. Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that is primarily used in cosmetics and medications and can also depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, leading to dehydration in infants.
If you have been using this product, stop immediately. Watch for the following symptoms in your child, and if your child shows these signs and symptoms, seek immediate medical attention:
- Decrease in appetite;
- Difficulty awakening;
- Limpness of extremities; and/or
- A decrease in strength of grip and change in skin color.
Although the FDA is alerting consumers of the potential dangers of this product, it has not received any reports of injury to infants due to product use. For more information about this alert, visit www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01839.html
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