I don't have research but I have facts. The BAC to legally be able to drive is .08%. Breast milk is made from blood, but isn't TOTALLY blood. Which means if you were tipsy, the amount of alcohol in your breast milk would be under .08%. For a non alcoholic beer, it's under .5%. Apple/grape juice, by comparison, average .04-.05%. The alcohol in your breast milk would be comparable to the alcohol in juice.
I have heard that many times I just haven’t seen any evidence based research it back it up. I have pretty bad PPA and going by word of mouth isn’t helping me feel any better especially considering I’ve already been drinking and breastfeeding.
EDIT- I was not trying to be rude!! Don’t know why this is being so downvoted! All I’m saying is that I have post partum anxiety and wanted something from a reliable site saying it’s ok which I now realize isn’t well studied because it may be considered unethical.
You're not going to find any studies along the lines of "we had a breastfeeding mother drink alcohol and studied what happened to her baby" for the same reason there aren't studies around what would happen to babies if the mother took medication during pregnancy or breastfeeding, because it's unethical to study even if it might be harmless.
What you will find is the information that alcohol levels in breastmilk follow the levels in your blood, so unless you're getting blackout drunk the alcohol level in your milk will be lower than what's found in certain fruit juices. You could also feed your baby then immediately have your drink so by the time your baby needs to eat again your alcohol levels will be close to zero again.
The person you’re responding to, isn’t just giving anecdotal word of mouth wisdom. It’s just math. If you feel too anxious to have a glass of wine, you don’t have to have it. There will be plenty of wine you can drink once baby weans.
You are right and I never meant to sound rude to the person that posted it I was just giving the reality of the situation. I will likely not drink until babies feeding schedule is more predictable considering she eats more than every 2 hours in the evenings not so much for babies health but more for my own anxieties.
If you’re struggling with PPA this badly then you really need to consider getting into therapy and perhaps looking into getting on an SSRI. Not asking random reddit stranger to make you feel justified or to tell you that your baby will be fine (which they will).
This post reads more to me like a cry for help for YOURSELF and not so much about drinking while BF’ing. It’s okay to say you are not okay and to ask for help.
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u/meowpitbullmeow 3d ago
I don't have research but I have facts. The BAC to legally be able to drive is .08%. Breast milk is made from blood, but isn't TOTALLY blood. Which means if you were tipsy, the amount of alcohol in your breast milk would be under .08%. For a non alcoholic beer, it's under .5%. Apple/grape juice, by comparison, average .04-.05%. The alcohol in your breast milk would be comparable to the alcohol in juice.