Few things can be
more painful for a mother than to discard her precious liquid gold. Successful breastfeeding
often requires a great level of commitment and dedication, and seeing a woman
throw away the product of that effort after a drink or two is really disturbing
given the evidence that, in the great majority of cases, she wouldn’t need to
do it. Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks)
does not appear to be harmful to the nursing baby. As long as the mother
feels neurologically normal, the concentration of alcohol in breast milk is
negligible. “That means if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough
to breastfeed”, according to this article.
Sometimes a new
mother finds herself in a situation where she may want to drink: it can be a
date night (they’re so common in the postpartum period, right?), a wedding, or
just to see how beer or wine tastes after 40 weeks of abstinence. While the harmful
consequences of alcohol in pregnancy are well-established (the current
recommendation is to completely avoid alcohol during pregnancy), its consumption
in lactation remains unclear and women continue to receive very conflicting advice on it.
The American Academy
of Pediatrics places emphasis on increasing breastfeeding in the United States
and their Committee on Drugs considers alcohol compatible with breastfeeding.
The concentration of
alcohol in the breast milk equilibrates with the mother’s blood concentration;
it does not accumulate (it is not "trapped") in the milk. Pumping
and dumping breast milk doesn't speed the elimination of alcohol from your
body.
It is wise to avoid
breast-feeding until alcohol has completely cleared your breast milk, which
typically takes two to three hours for 12 ounces (355 milliliters) of 5 percent
beer, 5 ounces (148 milliliters) of 11 percent wine or 1.5 ounces (44
milliliters) of 40 percent liquor, depending on your body weight.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding notes:
“ingestion of alcoholic beverages should be minimized and limited to an
occasional intake but no more than 0.5 g alcohol per kg body weight, which for
a 60 kg mother is approximately 2 oz liquor, 8 oz wine, or 2 beers. Nursing
should take place 2 hours or longer after the alcohol intake to minimize its
concentration in the ingested milk.”
Factors that influence alcohol metabolism and its concentration in the milk are:
- Your
baby's age
- A
newborn has an immature liver, and will be more affected by alcohol
- Up
until around 3 months of age, infants metabolize alcohol at about half
the rate of adults
- An
older baby can metabolize alcohol more quickly than a young infant
- Your
weight
- A
person's size has an impact on how quickly they metabolize alcohol
- A
heavier person can metabolize alcohol more quickly than a lighter person
- Amount
of alcohol
- The
effect of alcohol on the baby is directly related to the amount of
alcohol that is consumed
- The
more alcohol consumed, the longer it takes to clear the mother's body
- Will you
be eating
- An alcoholic drink consumed with food decreases absorption
(source: http://www.llli.org/faq/alcohol.html)
Note that we’re
talking about the occasional social drinker (i.e., 1-2 drinks on special
occasions). Chronic and heavy consumption of alcohol has been shown to cause
impairment on motor and cognitive development, weight gain/failure to thrive and sleep
patterns. References here.
Substantial consume
may cause drowsiness, sleep irregularities, weakness and decreased growth in
the infant. Very importantly, the effects of alcohol may impair judgement and affect the ability of
the mother care for her child and to be aware of her baby’s needs, whether she is breastfeeding or
not. If you drink heavily, it is safest to arrange for extra supervision for
your baby and it may be best not to breastfeed.
Also, the popular
idea that alcohol improves milk production is a myth. Studies show that alcohol actually decreases milk production and that the presence of
alcohol in breast milk causes babies to drink about 20 percent less breast milk
(Mennella & Beauchamp 1991, 1993; Mennella 1997, 1999) or inhibit let-down
(Coiro et al 1992; Cobo 1974).
(For a complete of the amount of drugs that are transferred
into human milk please read: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/108/3/776.full.pdf)
Dr. Jack Newman, member of the LLLI Health Advisory Council,
says this in his handout "More Breastfeeding Myths":
“Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all.
As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The
mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does.
Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for
nursing mothers.”
In summary: "As alcohol leaves the bloodstream, it leaves the breast milk. Pumping
and dumping will not remove it. Pumping and dumping, drinking a lot of water,
resting, or drinking coffee will not speed up the rate of the elimination of
alcohol from your body".
Mothers who are intoxicated should not breastfeed until they
are completely sober, at which time most of the alcohol will have left the
mother's blood (which may take up to three hours). Drinking to the point of intoxication,binge drinking, or drinking daily has not been adequately studied and is not advised in concurrence with breast feeding.
