I’m a wino! I LOVE WINE! I have always loved it & will continue to. When I was pregnant, I abstained from drinking for the obvious reasons, but when the baby arrived I began to question the use of alcohol while breastfeeding. Would it be okay to drink & nurse? Would it hurt the baby? Could I do it safely? Was it even worth the hassle? There’s tons of research linking the harmful effects of alcohol on a fetus during pregnancy, but much to my surprise, there’s a huge lack in research regarding breastfeeding and pregnancy. I reverted to my college research days and began to seek out the answers to my questions. Here’s what I’ve found.
Alcohol consumption can temporarily decrease milk supply.
Research has shown that drinking can temporarily reduce milk production. Here’s what happens; when baby latches onto the nipple our breasts react and produce milk. We have “let-down” & it’s caused by nerve connections between the nipple and the hypothalamus of the brain. If the hypothalamus is impaired, say because of alcohol, the hormone oxytocin won’t be released. This hormone is what makes let-down occur. So basically, drinking not only impairs our judgement but it can impair our release of oxytocin & inhibit our milk production.
Alcohol CAN make it into your milk. Though it’s not as much as you think.
If you didn’t pay attention in science class {like me} here’s what you need to know. When we ingest alcohol it travels to our stomach & small intestines. From there our blood vessels absorb it into our bloodstream & eventually travels to our liver. The enzymes in our liver can break down around 1 oz of alcohol per hour. Any extra hangs out in the blood & tissue waiting for its chance to head to the liver to be broken down. Because of all this, alcohol can make it into your breast milk. Now, don’t freak out! Just because you may have gotten drunk, doesn’t mean your baby will!
The research shows that very little alcohol ever makes its way to your baby. This article on the effects of alcohol on breastfeeding states:
The amount of alcohol ingested by the children through breast milk is a fraction of the amount ingested by the mothers. Assuming the worst possible scenario where a mother engages in binge drinking and ingests four drinks of 12 g pure alcohol and then breastfeeds her child at the time of the maximum blood alcohol concentration, the child would still not have a blood alcohol level of more than 0.005%.
So, while this isn’t said to encourage binge drinking, it does give us an idea of how much alcohol can make it into our baby’s system. It does need to be noted that an infants liver breaks down alcohol at half the rate of our bodies.
The highest concentration of alcohol in milk supply is within 30-60 mins after consumption.
Studies found that the highest concentration of alcohol is within the first hour of consumption. So it is best to wait around 2 hours before breastfeeding. This makes sense since that’s normally when we feel the most from the alcohol we consume.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, women should abstain from drinking while breastfeeding, however if you choose to do otherwise limit consumption 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. For instance, if you weigh 130 lbs you should only consume 8 oz of wine. {Good to know!} If you feel sober enough to drive, then you are sober enough to nurse.
If properly done, the occasional glass of wine, or beer, will not adversely affect baby.
After all the research I did, I decided that I will indulge myself in the occasional glass of wine. To be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve drank, 8 oz. of wine may put me on my butt. I know that there may those of you who disagree and believe the best thing to do is completely abstain; and I whole heartedly support your decision to do so! I do hope that this has helped some of you on the fence, or unsure what the research says concerning drinking and breastfeeding.
Tell me what you think. Leave a comment below to let me know what your decision is and why.
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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