BF and alcohol

January 20, 2011

Here's my experience working with students learning about lactation. The common

misconception many people have, professionals included, is that alcohol is

'stored' in the milk in the breast. This leads people to believe that you must

remove that milk that has alcohol in it, before the mother will be able to

provide alcohol free breastmilk.

If there is alcohol in the mother's blood system, it is in her milk. When her

system is free of alcohol, so is her milk alcohol free. Expressing may be

warranted if the mother is skipping feedings during this period, to help

maintain her supply, and avoid engorgement and so forth, but not to 'remove' the

alcohol from her milk.

As for infant sleep, this has been researched, ultimately I would describe the

conclusions of these studies as determining that maternal alcohol consumption

may result in 'disrupted' infant sleep, not necessarily somnolence. Here's one

reference. It's difficult to find decent research on the topic, I can imagine it

is challenging to ethically find subject groups.

Other research has shown maternal alcohol consumption reduces oxytocin release

and impairs let down, and reduces milk volume, and is not a galactogogue.

H. Kinne BA IBCLC RLC ICCE CD(DONA)

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