>It should also be mentioned, IMO, that a breastfeeding mother who has been
>drinking should wait to breastfeed until she feels sober so the BABY
>doesn't get drunk, too.  The alcohol level in a woman's breastmilk
>is the same as her blood alcohol level, right? 

This is what's so cool about a baby in utero vs a breastfed baby.  In utero, you can figure roughly that "mi blood es su blood" - if mama's blood has a certain level of a certain drug, then baby's right in there with her.  But after birth the route gets really contorted: from mom's blood (assuming the drug is in rough equilibrium in her milk and her blood) *through baby's digestive system* to baby's blood, in an amount no bigger than a single meal at a time.  

Whenever I lose track of this, I think to myself, "Now really, could I cure a headache by drinking a glass or two of blood from someone who took an aspirin?"  The answer, of course, is no.  It'd take a full-body transfusion for me to get as much aspirin in my bloodstream as my friend has.  So really.  Could a baby get as drunk as the mother is by drinking some of her blood (milk)?  No, although he does get *some* alcohol.

And that's what's so cool about attending multiple conferences: you get your information from more than one source, which means it's presented differently (... or it actually *is* different.  And I used to think I didn't have all the answers because I just didn't have all the right books!  Ha!)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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