Stanya-Shodhana Mahakashaya - A Potential Solution for Diseases in Breast Feeding Infants - A Review

Breast milk is referred as Stanya in Ayurveda texts also known as Piyush (nectar/Amrita); justifies totally with its importance for a newborn. Newborns primarily rely on the breast milk for their nutrition. Ayurvedic texts have described qualities of normal breast milk under the heading “Shuddha Stanya”. Emphasis has been given on the aspect of abnormalities of breast milk and their consequences on infants and as well as on mothers in Ayurveda classics. Vitiation in the normal qualities of Stanya is described as Stanya Dushti. To deal with the same, a concept of Stanyashodhan is mentioned in Charak Samhita in the form of group of ten drugs known as Stanyashodhan Mahakashaya. This article involves synthesizing information from various Ayurvedic texts and internet databases like PubMed, PubMed Central Databases, Google Scholar, CrossRef to substantiate the Stanya Shodhan attributes of these herbs. Neonates are highly susceptible to medication errors and adverse drug events due to their fragile physiology, immature organ systems, and limited ability to metabolize and eliminate medications. This problem can be solved if we treat the mother and thus providing treatment to infants through the Shodhita breast milk using Stanyashodhana Mahakashaya.