>Hi All > >I have searched the Archives for references on Alcohol consumption >while breastfeeding but I havent found any. June - have another go at the archives 'cos this is often discussed. The first week of February this year had several posts. > I have read that a moderate to heavy alcohol consumption can >interfere with the let down reflex. poor weight gain , and >interferes with prolactin levels. There's some info Hale about these aspects. > I have also read that it takes up to 3 hours for it to be >eliminated from the sytem, if a women wanted to social drink would >she need to express and dump her expressed milk if her baby was >going to feed before the 3 hours??? No - there is no point in pumping and dumping, as the alcohol is diffused back into the system....pumping and dumping does not hasten the process of elimination from the milk : "Unlike urine, which stores substances in the bladder, alcohol is not trapped in breast milk, but is constantly removed as it diffuses back into the bloodstream" - this is from http://www.cfpc.ca/cfp/2002/Jan/vol48-jan-clinical-1.asp which is a good biochemical account of what happens. In practical terms, I think it is safe to tell women that no adverse effects have been found from occasional moderate drinking of alcohol (there was one study in fact that was not replicated - see the Lactnet discussion) and there is no benefit to be had from pumping and dumping. If they really want their milk to be totally alcohol free they can reckon on about an hour and a half per unit of alcohol as the elimination time. Heather Welford Neil NCT bfc, tutor, UK *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html