Can anyone clarify whether you can drink alcohol while breastfeeding? And how much alcohol passes through the breast milk? If you have sources, I'd really appreciate a link to them. I've tried google and there are conflicting studies and advice. It's my birthday soon and I'd like to have a few drinks, if it's safe to do?
6 Replies
One, maybe. A few? No.
The Australian breastfeeding association is a great, reliable source for all things breastfeeding. Basically they say the levels of alcohol in your breastmilk are the same as your blood alcohol levels. This is the link
https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/system/files/ABA_Alchohol_BF%2520for%25...
https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/sites/default/files/imce/ABA_Alchohol_B...
Yep. Breast milk levels are the same as blood alcohol level. So most spirits are 40%. Meaning in a 30ml shot of spirits, there is about 12ml of pure alcohol. If you're legal to drive, your blood alcohol is 0.05% or less. So if bubs drinks 100ml of breast milk, they will intake 0.5ml of pure alcohol if you're teetering on being legal to drive. If they consumed 200ml, it would be about 1ml of pure alcohol. That means if bubs drank 200ml of breast milk and you were 0.05, it is the same as them having 2.5 ml of a spirit (that is 40% proof).
How is bub with the bottle? Maybe store/stock some then pump and dump?
I am pretty sure it is only a minimal amount of alcohol that passes through to breast milk.
If you are safe to drive you are safe to feed your baby. It is more the fact that you need to be able to safely carry and still look after bub