Dear Lactnet Friends:

Thank you Susan Burger for your excellent comments about lack of harm. I
see your point in current research.

However, when whole cultures have dietary practices that include regular
alcohol use, I find it difficult to believe that there wouldn't be some
prohibitions about alcohol use during lactation after centuries. Instead,
we find the opposite, with the recommendation in the 70s about drinking a
non-US made beer to improve lactational performance.

Perhaps the difference today is access? In the 21st century, excess alcohol
use is a problem with children because it is so easy to obtain alcohol
laced drinks: wine coolers and the like.

Another topic for a doctoral dissertation.

Here's an interesting study: I have the study but will cut and paste on the
abstract.

Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007 June; 31(6): 909–918.\

Lactational State Modifies Alcohol Pharmacokinetics in Women

Marta Yanina Pepino, Allison L. Steinmeyer, and Julie A. Mennella

Background: Given the physiological adaptations of the digestive system
during lactation, the
present study tested the hypothesis that lactation alters alcohol
pharmacokinetics.

Methods: Lactating women who were exclusively breastfeeding a 2- to
5-month-old infant and 2
control groups of nonlactating women were studied. The first control group
consisted of women who
were exclusively formula-feeding similarly aged infants, whereas the other
consisted of women
who had never given birth. A within-subjects design study was conducted
such that women drank a
0.4 g/kg dose of alcohol following a 12-hour overnight fast during one test
session (fasted condition)
or 60 minutes after consuming a standard breakfast during the other (fed
condition). Blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) levels and mood states were obtained at fixed intervals
before and after alcohol
consumption.

Results: Under both conditions, the resultant BAC levels at each time point
were significantly
lower and the area under the blood alcohol time curve were significantly
smaller in lactating women
when compared with the 2 groups of nonlactating women. That such changes
were due to lactation
per se and not due to recent parturient events was suggested by the finding
that alcohol pharmacokinetics of nonlactating mothers, who were tested at a
similar time postpartum, were no different from women who had never given
birth. Despite lower BAC levels in lactating mothers, there were
no significant differences among the 3 groups of women in the stimulant
effects of alcohol. However, lactating women did differ in the sedative
effects of alcohol when compared with nulliparous but not formula-feeding
mothers. That is, both groups of parous women felt sedated for shorter
periods of time when compared with nulliparous women.

Conclusions: The systemic availability of alcohol was diminished during
lactation. However, the
reduced availability of alcohol in lactating women did not result in
corresponding changes in the
subjective effects of alcohol.

warmly,
-- 
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, CKC
craniosacral therapy practitioner
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com

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