Alcohol Can Affect Breast Milk Supply

(Newswire.net — December 25, 2017) Cheyenne, Wyoming — It’s strange to think that alcohol was once thought to be able to increase a lactating mother’s milk supply. In fact, in the early 1990s, brewing company Anheuser-Busch, think Budweiser and Bud Light, sold a low-alcohol beer under the brand name Malt Nutrine specifically to nursing women with the belief that it enhanced lactation. Since then it has been proven that excessive consumption of alcohol actually has the opposite effect on lactation and as such should be had in moderation.  

A research conducted in 1991 had breastfeeding moms drink an orange juice and ethanol mixture then tested how much their babies suckled directly after. It was found that the babies consumed approximately 20% less breast milk suggesting that alcohol lowers milk partially by stalling the let-down reflex. 

However, one would be happy to know that the babies in the aforementioned 1999 study followed up with more repeated nursing sessions until their appetite was satisfied. As such moderately drinking alcohol while nursing is thought to be acceptable within reason by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs, nonetheless, it cautions that drinking alcohol in large volumes can lead to “drowsiness, deep sleep, weakness, and abnormal weight gain in the infant, and the possibility of decreased milk-ejection reflex in the mother.” 

The effects of alcohol milk supply on a baby diminishes as it gets older. Furthermore, a nursing mother would have to have a blood alcohol concentration of 300mg/100ml to trigger any seriously harmful side effects in her suckling child. 

It may help to note that a breathalyzer test failed with results of 80mg/100ml or more so it would require a high level of intoxication on the mother’s part in order to pass on dangerous high alcohol levels to her breastfed child. In any case, it’s important for breast milk alcohol testing to be done as due diligence and the PureMilk™ Breast Milk Alcohol Test Stripe by HealthyWiser™ is a worthy product to have at hand for quick, easy to use and accurate results.