In the past, breastfeeding and alcohol have had a rocky understanding amongst mothers and health professionals. Now, we have the research on how alcohol in breast milk can be navigated safely! In this post, we’ll go over if you need an alcohol in breast milk calculator, how much alcohol gets in breast milk, and how long is alcohol in your breast milk.
In one study, when research participants had alcohol, their breasts felt more full and they were sleepier. But their babies received 20% less milk [1].
Breastfeeding and Alcohol: How Does Alcohol Affect Breastfeeding?
Research participants were studied after drinking a 0.4g/kg dose of alcohol. Researchers found that this significantly decreased oxytocin levels, but prolactin increased [2].
Prolactin is the hormone that is responsible for making breast milk in your breasts
Oxytocin is responsible for that breast milk coming out when and how much you need it to.
However, in another study, alcohol completely blocked the release of oxytocin [3].
Can Alcohol Decrease Breast Milk Supply?
If oxytocin is completely blocked, this also takes away the hormones responsible for bonding with your baby during this time.
In addition, it may be time to breastfeed or pump more for baby. But without oxytocin, you’ll likely have trouble getting much out at all, even if your breasts feel extra full because of the higher prolactin!
It seems that babies drink less milk because of the decrease in oxytocin, therefore, they are unable to get more breast milk.
Breastfeeding and Alcohol: Should You Still Have a Drink?
Although, research has found that babies get less breast milk after their mothers drink alcohol, if you are only having one or two drinks and not drinking all day nor every day, you can safely have a drink.
“Possible long-term effects of alcohol in maternal milk remain unknown. Most sources advise limiting alcohol intake to the equivalent of 8 ounces of wine or two beers and waiting 2 hours after drinking to resume breastfeeding.” [4]
Otherwise, another way of calculating how much alcohol you can have is to limit your alcohol intake to no more than 0.5g of alcohol per kg of body weight per day.
For example, a 60 kg (132 lb) woman could have 2-2.5 oz of liquor, 8 oz of wine, or 2 cans of beer (institute of medicine).
A good and simple way to have a drink and breastfeed is to nurse your baby, have a drink, then nurse again in about 2 hours.
Thankfully, low level drinking during breastfeeding is not associated with a shorter breastfeeding duration or adverse outcomes up to 12 months age (Wilson et al. CDC).
Still, consuming alcohol more than two drinks per day during lactation was found to be independently associated with a shorter breastfeeding duration (Giglia, Binns)
How Long is Alcohol in Your Breast Milk?
So, the key here is obviously moderation when drinking and keeping the alcohol use to occasions. As we know, alcohol is not good for humans anyways.
But having a spaced out drink or two will not harm your baby because it can move out of your bloodstream, and therefore, breast milk, very quickly.
Dr. Hale states: “even in the worst case scenario where a mother engages in binge drinking and ingests four drinks of 12 g of pure alcohol and then breastfeeds her child at the time of maximum blood alcohol concentration, the child would still not have a blood alcohol level of more than 0.005%. It appears biologically implausible that occasional exposure to such amounts should be related to clinically meaningful effects to the nursing children”.
Alcohol in Breast Milk Calculator
Alcohol can easily get into breast milk. It is a small molecule with a molecular weight of 46 Daltons.
Herbs, medications, and other substances with a molecular weight under 200 Daltons can get into breast milk.
Check out Chapter 11 of The Balanced Breastfeeding Course: Medications, Drugs, and Breastfeeding.
This chapter goes over everything you could need to know about herbs, birth control, cold & flu medications, cigarettes, and more regarding breastfeeding or pumping for your baby!
The larger the molecular weight, the less gets into your breast milk!
Did you know that lactating reduces the amount of alcohol absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract by 20-25% compared to non-lactating women?!
Additionally, the peak blood alcohol level is delayed about 20-30 minutes compared with non-lactating women!
Still, the amount of alcohol eliminated per unit time is constant.
Therefore, when using the “1 drink per 2 hours” rule, you can certainly drink alcohol and breastfeed your baby in an extremely safe and low risk manner.
After 1 standard drink, it is expected that the alcohol will be eliminated from the milk after 110-170 minutes.
Alcohol Breast Milk Test Strips
Using breast milk test strips to test for alcohol is greatly unneeded and not a recommendation from major breastfeeding associations such as The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Alcohol breast milk test strips are pricey and unneeded when you are drinking in moderation and following these tips, such as, “1 drink per 2 hours” and doing your best to feed your baby around 2 hours (or more) after you had a drink.
MYTH: “You Need to Pump and Dump After Drinking Alcohol”
Alcohol is water soluble meaning it passes in and out of the milk as the mother’s blood alcohol content increases, then decreases.
Therefore, it is never trapped in your breast milk.
Again, if you limit your alcohol intake to one drink every two hours and space the feedings and drinks out the furthest you can, you do not need to worry.
What if the Alcohol Consumption and Use is Excessive?
Anytime you drink more than 1 drink every 2 hours, ensure you have a babysitter to safely care and respond to your baby. There’s nothing wrong with a night out!!
However, with continuous, excessive alcohol intake, there are negative outcomes for the baby which can include: [5-11]:
- Sleep disturbances, including shorter sleep periods, more frequent wakefulness, and less total active and REM sleep in the three-hour-period after consuming alcohol
- Increased crying
- Increased startling
- More arousal
- Increased REM sleep in the period from 3.5 hours to 24 hours after exposure to alcohol
- Decreased milk intake by the baby
- Stunted growth
- Impaired immune function
- Delay of motor development
- Potential impairment of cognitive development
- Reduction in ability for abstract reasoning at school age (6-7 years)
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine state in Clinical Protocol #21 that consuming alcohol during lactation has several negative effects ranging from mild to severe [4].
This is dependent on the amount of alcohol the mother/lactating parent has consumed and other factors related to how quickly their body processes alcohol [12].
Questions or Comments on Breastfeeding and Alcohol?
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below👇🏻
Talk soon, mama!
– Katelyn Lauren
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References:
[1] Mennella, J. A., & Beauchamp, G. K. (1993). Beer, breast feeding, and folklore. Developmental Psychobiology, 26(8) pp. 459-466. doi: 10.1002/dev.420260804
[2] Mennella, J. A., Pepino, M. Y., & Teff, K. L. (2005). Acute alcohol consumption disrupts the hormonal milieu of lactating women. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 90(4), 1979–1985. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2004-1593
[3] Coiro V, Alboni A, Gramellini D, et al. Inhibition by ethanol of the oxytocin response to breast stimulation in normal women and the role of endogenous opioids. Acta endocrinologica. Mar 1992;126(3):213-216.
[4] Reece-Stremtan, S., & Marinelli, K. A. (2015). ABM clinical protocol #21: guidelines for breastfeeding and substance use or substance use disorder, revised 2015. Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, 10(3), 135–141. https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2015.9992
[5] Haastrup, M. B., Pottegård, A., & Damkier, P. (2013). Alcohol and breastfeeding. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology 114 pp. 168-173. doi: 10.1111/bcpt.12149
[6] Mennella, J. A. (2001). Regulation of milk intake after exposure to alcohol in mothers’ milk. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 25(4) pp. 590-593.
[7] Brown, R. A., Dakkak, H., & Seabrook, J. A. (2018). Is breast best? Examining the effects of alcohol and cannabis use during lactation. Journal of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, 11(4) pp. 345-356. Doi: 10.3233/NPM-17125.
[8] Anderson, P. O. (2018). Alcohol Use During Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding Medicine 13(5) pp. 315-317. DOI: 10.1089/bfm2018.0053.
More references:
[9] Nonacs, R. (2018). Alcohol and breastfeeding: What are the risks? Contemporary OBGYN Net December 2018 24-28.
[10] Oei, J-L. (2019). Risky maternal alcohol consumption during lactation decreases childhood abstract reasoning at school age. Evidence-based Nursing 22(10 p. 25. doi: 10.1136/ebnurs-2018-102999.
[11] Gibson, L., & Porter, M. (2018). Drinking or smoking while breastfeeding and later cognition in children. Pediatrics 142(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-4266.
[12] Reece-Stremtan, S., Marinelli, K. A., & The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. (2015). ABM Clinical Protocol #21: Guidelines for breastfeeding and substance use or substance use disorder, Revised 2015. Breastfeeding Medicine 10(3) pp. 135-141. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2015.9992
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