The question of safety of alcohol while breastfeeding has been the subject of debate since long. Although there is enough evidence to suggest the ill effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, the same is not available for the period of lactation.
Studies have pointed out that alcohol may, in fact, reduce the production of breast milk and the alcohol in breast milk may pass on to the infant and cause short and long term effects in the breastfed baby.
When a nursing mother drinks alcohol, a small quantity of it passes into the breast milk as well and the quantity varies in proportion to the amount present in the mother’s blood. It peaks around half an hour to one hour after drinking alcohol and then slowly decreases. The more the quantity of alcohol is taken, the longer it takes to be eliminated.
Although a very small quantity of the alcohol consumed passes into the breast milk (5-6% of the maternal dose), it still has a certain influence on the process of breastfeeding and affects the infant, both short-term and long-term.
It was observed that there occurred an alteration in the odor of the milk after consuming alcohol and the intensity varied in proportion to the amount of alcohol consumed. The infants suckled 20% lesser in the 4-hour period after their mothers had consumed alcohol. Alcohol is known to inhibit the production of oxytocin and that might be the reason for the reduced yield. The study demonstrated that consumption of alcohol by a lactating mother results in a change in the odor of breast milk and the feeding behavior of the infant.
A study conducted by Little et al. on the development of an infant at 1 year of age and consumption of alcohol by the mother while lactating, demonstrated that motor development in such babies was delayed. Even after the addition of control for various alcohol-related changes in maternal behavior were introduced, the effects remained the same. This has been attributed to the fact that infants do not have the capacity to fully metabolize alcohol as the level of activity of alcohol dehydrogenase in infants is one-fourth that of adults. The alcohol consumed through breast milk, therefore, tends to accumulate in their bodies.
Consumption of alcohol by a lactating mother may even influence learning in an infant. A study conducted by Mennella and Beauchamp studied the response of babies to differently scented toys. Breastfed babies of mothers who consumed alcohol behaved differently in the presence of an alcohol-scented toy than other breastfed babies.
Despite the findings of the aforementioned studies, it is very difficult to conclusively comment on the effect of alcohol consumed by lactating mothers as there is little original research available. Long-term effects of alcohol abuse in a lactating mother may also be influenced by other accompanying social and behavioral changes in the mother leading to poor care and neglect of the child rather than direct effects of alcohol, medindia reports.
Source: PZI
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