From the Guidelines
If a lactating mother consumes alcohol, she should wait at least 2 hours after a single drink before nursing or expressing milk to be fed to the infant, as moderate alcohol intake does not appear to affect breastfeeding duration, according to the most recent and highest quality study 1.
Key Considerations
- The safest option is to avoid alcohol while breastfeeding, but if a mother chooses to drink, she should limit it to no more than one standard drink per day.
- A standard drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits.
- After drinking, the mother should wait until she feels completely sober before breastfeeding.
- If she needs to feed the baby sooner, she should use previously pumped milk.
- Contrary to popular belief, "pumping and dumping" doesn't speed up the elimination of alcohol from breast milk; only time can do that, as breast milk alcohol concentrations closely parallel blood alcohol concentrations, with highest levels in milk occurring 30 to 60 minutes after consuming alcohol 1.
Precautions and Recommendations
- If a mother has planned drinking in advance, she can pump milk beforehand to feed the baby during the waiting period.
- It's essential to note that alcohol can decrease milk production and potentially affect the baby's sleep patterns.
- The reason for these precautions is that alcohol in breast milk can impact the baby's development, sleep, and feeding behavior.
- Always prioritize the baby's health and safety when making decisions about alcohol consumption while breastfeeding, as supported by the study published in Pediatrics 1.
From the Research
Recommendations for Lactating Mothers Who Consume Alcohol
- If a lactating mother chooses to drink alcohol, she should carefully plan a breastfeeding schedule by storing milk before drinking and waiting for complete elimination of alcohol from her breast milk after drinking 2.
- Briefly delaying breastfeeding after consumption of alcohol-containing drinks can ensure that the infant is not exposed to alcohol 3.
- It is recommended that lactating women restrict their intake of alcohol, as it can enter breastmilk and have a detrimental effect on the production, volume, composition, and ejection of breastmilk, as well as a direct adverse effect on the infant 4.
Guidelines for Alcohol Consumption
- The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) current Australian Alcohol Guidelines state that if pregnant or lactating women choose to drink, over a week, they should have fewer than 7 standard drinks 5.
- However, it is acknowledged that there is no known safe level of alcohol intake in pregnancy, and abstinence from non-alcoholic beverages would eliminate any risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder 3.
Precautions for Non-Alcoholic Beverages
- Non-alcoholic beverages, such as non-alcoholic beer, may still contain ethanol up to 1.2% by volume, and their consumption should be approached with caution 6, 3.
- Although moderate intake of non-alcoholic beverages is likely to pose no harm to breastfed infants, lactating mothers should be aware of the potential risks and take necessary precautions 3.