I have posted the illustration below many times on Lactnet through the
years.  Alcohol and breastfeeding is a hot-button topic for many people.  We
need to deal with the facts when we share information with moms.  This is a
calculation of the alcohol content in breastmilk.

In New York State, a blood alcohol level of 0.1% was the definition
of legally intoxicated for many years.  Now NY and most states consider the
lower level of 0.08% the legal limit.  However, 0.1% is easier to use for
this illustration.

Alcohol freely passes into and out of breast milk.  Therefore, blood alcohol
levels and breast milk alcohol levels are equal.  As the alcohol is
processed out of the mom's blood, it also goes from the milk. If you are
legally intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of 0.1% this is how much
alcohol is in your breast milk (one tenth of one per cent):

Take one ounce of breast milk and divide it into 100 parts.  Then take one
of those 100 parts and divide it into 10 parts.  One of those 10 parts is
alcohol.

For our international friends:
Take 30 cc. of breast milk.  Divide it into 1000 parts = 0.03 cc. of alcohol
in 30 cc of breast milk.

This is the amount of alcohol in the milk of a mom who is legally
intoxicated.  Imagine how much less there is in the milk of a mom who drank
one glass of wine.

Barb Berges BS, RN, IBCLC
formerly from Rochester, NY
now near Cleveland, Ohio

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