I know this thread was thoroughly discussed a few days ago... forgive me for resurrecting it. What bothers me a great deal about the stories regarding babies being exposed to drugs (licit or illict) via breastfeeding is, HOW DO THEY KNOW that is how the baby was exposed? (yes, I'm shouting, sorry) Did the coroner / medical examiner / police detective observe all of the sequence: 1, mother takes drug; 2, mother breastfeeds baby; 3, baby dies. Furthermore, have any of these personnel consulted anyone knowledge about pharmacology and breastfeeding before making these assertions? Do they know what sort of dose a mother would have to take of a drug in order for it to show up in a baby's system at the levels measured on autopsy? This touched a nerve for me when a 10 day old baby died of a drug overdose here in northern Virginia. In the one day the story was carried by every imaginable news medium, the police and medical investigators questioned whether the baby had suffered a "tragic accidental overdose" because the mother took a prescription pain reliever and was breastfeeding. Breastfeeding *really* took a hit in this story, and the link was 100% speculative. The mother was quoted as stating she had taken the drug "once or twice." My family knew when the story was being reported AGAIN on TV because they would hear me yelling at the TV. Well. Sadly, it turned out that the mother had given the baby the drug directly - through mixing it with formula. When the media covered the next stage in the story, where the mother was charged with murder, breastfeeding was *still* mentioned, as in "Initially detectives thought that the baby might have gotten the drug through breastfeeding." I really did want to scream. I guess I just want to say, even if it's a good anti-drug message, don't applaud too loud for the media just yet. I don't trust them to get it right. Mary Renard in Vienna VA USA where the flowers will be blooming soon if we continue to get 60+F temperatures! Terriann, I'll trade ya for some snow - I like it in small doses. posting for myself, not my employer.... Mary Riley Renard, RN, BSN, IBCLC CERP/Recertification Coordinator International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners P O Box 2348 Falls Church VA 22042-0348 USA Tele 703-560-7330 Fax 703-560-7332 email <[log in to unmask]>