<<If milk is manufactured "from" blood and alcohol is metabolized from
the blood via the liver, would milk that has been made (and stored
within the body) from within blood containing a certain alcohol
level, lose that alcohol level with time?  That is, how would this
happen as the milk would not presumably return to the liver for
detoxification? >>

No--the milk does not travel to the liver for detoxification...it doesn't 
need to.  The alcohol freely diffuses in and out of the milk (as it sits in 
the breast.)  So...when the mom takes her first drink...the alcohol diffuses 
into the blood and then the milk, and as the blood level goes down, it 
diffuses back out from the milk into the blood.  The blood carries it to the 
liver.

The tricky part about advising a mom on alcohol consumption is that there is 
really no "safe" amount to give your baby.  It is the same challenge with 
sunlight...we know too much is "bad", but have not determined what amount is 
"safe".  But I try and encourage moderation...and I tell moms it is not 
necessary to "pump and dump" if it has been > 1hr/drink.

Kathy Leeper, MD, IBCLC
Lincoln, NE 

             ***********************************************

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