Sotalol and pregnancy
Sotalol can be taken in pregnancy, particularly if you have problems with your heart.
However, always check with your doctor that they're happy for you to keep taking it. They may wish to review your medicine and may recommend other medicines instead.
If you do take sotalol in pregnancy then you may need extra scans to check that your baby is growing at a normal rate.
Sotalol and breastfeeding
If your baby is healthy, you may be able to take sotalol if you need to while you're breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, and they'll help you to decide.
There is not much information about taking sotalol while breastfeeding, but it shows sotalol can pass into breast milk in fairly high amounts compared to most medicines. This may increase the risk of your baby getting side effects.
However, sotalol has not been known to cause any side effects in breastfed babies from the information that's available.
It's important to keep taking sotalol to keep you well. Breastfeeding will also benefit both you and your baby.
It's very rare for breastfed babies to have side effects from medicines you're taking. But it's important to keep monitoring your baby if you're taking any medicine while breastfeeding.
Contact your healthcare professional or call 111 as soon as possible if your baby:
- is not feeding as well as usual, or not putting on weight as you would expect
- has diarrhoea or is being sick (vomiting)
- looks paler than usual
- gets a rash
- is behaving differently, for example being irritable
- is unusually sleepy
If your baby has any symptoms that are not listed, or if you're worried about them, you can also call 111 or contact any healthcare professional.
Keep breastfeeding as usual until you've got advice about your baby's symptoms.
Sotalol and fertility
There's no evidence to suggest that taking sotalol reduces fertility in either men or women.