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Date: | Thu, 18 Sep 1997 12:22:53 -0400 |
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Another LC, not online, asked me this information and I'd appreciate your
opinion. Please email me privately (as well as on the list as others may
want to know as well) so that I can get back to her soon.
She has a mother who was a former crack addict who stopped using the drugs
while pregnant. After the birth, she was committed to breastfeeding and
breastfed for the first month. During this time she was drug tested and
came out clean.
However, something in her "slipped" and she went back to using crack for a
little over a month and had her child removed from her custody. Now the
baby is three months old and she went for counseling and has been drug free
and wants to start breastfeeding again. Unfortunately, the mother did not
pump during her foray back into drugs and now has the extra "burden" of
having to relactate.
The LC wanted to know how long crack stays in the mother's blood and in her
breastmilk and if any of you have any suggestions on how to work with this
mother establishing lactation under these special circumstances. I hate to
say this (my own personal opinion) but my intuition was nagging me a bit:
I have a feeling that the mother wants to know this because she may
occaisionally want to "party" and would need to pump and dump for the
number of days required so that her baby doesn't get the drugs through
breastfeeding.
As we all try to do: give the mother the correct information and let her
make the choice. But this all just breaks my heart and it's not even my
own client!
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Susan Z. Condon, BA, CLE, CLC
Lactation Consulting Home Services
1846 Church St., San Francisco, CA 94131-2713
415-282-7816 or <[log in to unmask]>
wife to Marty and mother of Arianthe (5)
"They aim for the best but it's never going to
be good enough." from Chele Marmet after
coining the change in terminology from ABM to
AIM (Artificial Infant Milk)
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