Nobody, as far as I can remember in reading the various posts, has said
anything about pregnant women drinking alcohol.  We have to get away from
this notion that what is true for pregnancy is also true for lactation.  It
just is not true.  These are two completely different situations, and even
I, as a man, realize this.  But obviously some health professionals don't
("take the same precautions during breastfeeding as you did during
pregnancy", as one person wrote) and the lay public often don't see a
difference either.  When a woman takes a drug during pregnancy, the drug
usually gets to the baby directly through the placenta and the baby's blood
levels are close to those of the mother's--at a more susceptible time (the
baby is smaller and developing more rapidly).  But during breastfeeding the
alcohol in the milk is what the level is in the blood (0.08% in someone too
intoxicated to drive, in most jurisdictions).  That's nothing.  And I
disagree with Hale if he says "pump and dump" for two or three hours after a
drink.

Pregnancy does not equal lactation.  Why is that so difficult to comprehend?

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC

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