I work in hospital with newborns.  Mothers  are tested for drugs on admission.  If they test positive for marijuana, the infant is then screened.  If the infant tests positive, she is not permitted to breastfeed and can pump and discard her milk.  Currently, she can breastfeed when her blood tests negative.  According to Hale, marijuana is lipophilic and in higher concentration in breastmilk.  Therefore, should we be testing breastmilk and not blood? Is this done anywhere?  What do you do?  Risk vs. Benefit?
Thanks ahead of time
Polly Westra R.N., IBCLC

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