6. You may drink (with precaution)
But time your cocktail carefully because your milk-alcohol level equals your blood-alcohol level, according to Philadelphia-based Monell Chemical Senses Center researcher Julie Mennella, Ph.D., who studies alcohol’s effects on lactation.
“If you have a buzz, it’s still in your milk,” says Mennella, who recommends waiting at least three hours after your last sip of alcohol to breastfeed. If your baby needs a feeding within that three-hour time frame, use stored breast milk or formula. And to ensure your milk supply doesn’t diminish, pump and dump: Pump at the scheduled feeding time and dump the alcohol-tainted milk down the drain.
You’ll want to avoid alcohol if you’re having problems building a milk supply, even though traditional wisdom suggests that beer helps produce breast milk. “Contrary to folklore, it disrupts the hormones of lactation,” Mennella says. “Women who drink produce less milk.”
>> Lisa Fields is a freelance writer in Hillsdale, N.J.
October/November 2012
