Most especially, it would seem, when they know little to nothing on the topic, scientifically.
It is ok while breastfeeding given that you don't get drunk. Telling women they can't drink until they wean leads to unnecessarily short breastfeeding spans. There is absolutely no reason not to have a glass of wine while breastfeeding - it isn't going to hurt the baby. DO YOUR RESEARCH.
The most frustrating part of a statement like this isn't that this woman uses that women would rather drink than breastfeed, it's that she got her information from multiple websites, and didn't bother to do any actual interpretation of studies and data - or check what their sources were.
An infant's brain is still developing, and while alcohol does not do any permanent damage as long as an adult doesn't drink too much and too often, it's because the brain cell repair mechanisms are fully developed and able to fix problems that alcohol causes.
BAC is Blood Alcohol Concentration. Basically, having a .08% BAC means that for every 1000 parts blood supply in a person’s body, there is about 4/5 of a part of alcohol. (0.8/100 g/mL = 4/5 cg/mL.) ABV is Alcohol by Volume, but since you're not feeding your infant straight blood, the BAC would be varying, depending on how your body metabolizes alcohol and how fast.
Let's do some math, based on the worst possible scenario regarding one drink. You drink one 5 ounce glass of wine, which contains around .6 ounces of ethyl alcohol ~ 12% ABV. If you weigh around 140 pounds, on average your BAC will be around .03 (based on the Widmark
formula). If your infant needs to be fed within the hour, the maximum the ABV would be in 4 ounces of your breastmilk ~ .03% (based on 118.294118 mL of breastmilk; .3/100 g/mL = 3/10 cg/mL) or 3.55 centigrams of ethyl alcohol.
What would your infant's BAC be? Let's say she's a 6 week old little girl, who weighs about 10
pounds. The Widmark "r" value, or reduced body mass value, is a complex empirical measure that takes into account both body water percentage and water concentration in blood. Using the Widmark formula, the BAC for a 6 week old girl who weighs about 13 pounds and is about 23 inches long, will be at LEAST .00024. It may be negligible for an adult, but it's higher than zero, and therefore, can cause detrimental affects in a developing infant.
That is a generous estimate for the ABV, because ethyl alcohol is a water-soluble non-polar compound that easily passes through the biological membrane (biomembrane). The average water content of breast milk is 87.5% and that of blood is 85%. For this reason it is expected that the ethanol concentration at equilibrium would be slightly higher in breast milk.
Depending on how the infant metabolizes the alcohol (an infant is still developing, and there is no way to find out if the enzymes that break down ethyl alcohol are mature enough to do so properly), it could stunt the growth of brain and liver cells. 0.0013 Ounces of alcohol may not sound like much, but studies have shown that babies sleep less and eat, on average, 20% less when there is any detectable level of alcohol in the breast milk.
These results are supported in a study by Vilaro et al. (evidence level--NHMRC V, animal study) in which the pups of alcohol-treated dams demonstrate a significant reduction in combined weight compared with control pups. This decrease is associated with reduced milk production in the alcohol-fed dams despite their milk having a higher energy content due to a greater lipid appearance of the cerebellum control pups nursed by non-alcohol consuming dams were compared with pups nursed by alcohol-consuming dams (evidence level--NHMRC V, animal study). Pups exposed to alcohol opened their eyes several days later than pups in the control groups and had a lower average litter weight and brain weight that was evident until alcohol was removed from the diet. These degenerative changes were independent of the pups' weight. That study highlights the considerable growth and developmental problems occurring in pups as a result of alcohol intake in the lactating dams and the potential similar harm that could take place in humans with continued alcohol intake during lactation.
Lactational performance, brain and liver composition, circulating metabolites, plasma nutrients and metabolites were investigated in pups fed by ethanol-treated lactating dams. The dams in the alcohol-treated group had a decreased milk yield that was associated with a decreased collective weight gain of their pups. These pups also exhibited a decreased brain weight and brain protein. The amount of deoxyribonucleic acid indirectly reflects the number of cells, and when expressed as DNA per total brain weight the alcohol-exposed pups had reduced values, possibly indicating a lower number of brain cells. This was also apparent in the liver of the alcohol-exposed pups, who also experienced a lower liver weight, lower liver protein and liver glycogen concentration than the control pups.
It is proposed that these lower levels of protein and glycogen are metabolic adaptations in response to the malnutrition being experienced by the alcohol-exposed pups. It is known that the lipid content increases in the milk of alcohol-treated rats. This high lipid content partially compensates for the alcohol-induced malnutrition occurring in the alcohol-exposed pups and allows the proper metabolic adaptations to prevent severe hypoglycaemia and maintain minimum liver stores of glycogen. However, these adaptations are not enough to protect against impaired brain development, evident in the alcohol-exposed pups.
These results are supported in a later study by Oyama et al. (evidence level--NHMRC V, animal study) who found that pups suckled by alcohol lactating dams (5%, 10% and 20% ethanol) had significantly lower body weights compared with controls. However, only pups of lactating dams exposed to higher alcohol levels experienced a significant decrease in brain weight suggesting a preservation of the pups' brain or a profound reduction in overall body growth as possible hypotheses for the difference between alcohol groups.
A study of 400 lactating and breastfeeding mothers found that gross motor development was slightly, but noticeably, altered in infants who were exposed regularly (i. e., at least 5 ounces of 12% ABV daily) to alcohol in their mothers milk. Additionally, experience with the sensory qualities of alcohol in the mother's milk may affect the infant in other important ways. Animal studies have revealed that young animals (including presumably humans) form memories based on orosensory experiences during nursing and retain these memories for a considerable time.
Moreover, the context in which the infant experiences alcohol that is, with the mother and during breastfeeding consists of numerous elements that reinforce early learning, such as tactile stimulation, warmth, milk, and the mother's voice. This is an important thing to take note of because a more recent study of children aged 3-6 showed that the children who had a mother who drank very lightly while breastfeeding liking the odor of alcohol. Studies have found infants who had more exposure to alcohol behaved differently in the presence of an alcohol-scented toy than did infants with less alcohol exposure. Specifically, infants who had more exposure to alcohol demonstrated more mouthing of the alcohol-scented toy, but not of the other toys, than did infants with less alcohol exposure.
This finding is consistent with animal studies indicating that rat pups exposed to the flavor of alcohol in milk increased their mouthing rates in response to alcohol odor and were more willing to ingest alcohol-flavored solutions. These results suggest that at least some of the early learning about alcohol is based on sensory experiences and is anchored to experiences with the parents.
Caffeine is just as bad, and worse if both are being consumed. Studies found that like alcohol, caffeine is excreted to a limited extent in breast milk and the dose presented to the infants is generally less than 2 percent of the maternal dose. Breast-fed infants are at greater risk for accumulating caffeine, however, than are older children and adults. This accumulation may be due to a lower activity in infants of an enzyme system in the liver called the cytochrome P-450 system, which is involved in caffeine break-down. Because the same enzyme system is involved in alcohol metabolism, its reduced activity in infants could result in alcohol accumulation.
Is it possible your infant will be fine? Absolutely. However, if you cannot help yourself but to have a drink or two, instead of considering the affects of ethyl alcohol on an infant, you probably should seek some alcohol dependency counseling. Furthermore, if you know you will want to drink, even lightly, while breastfeeding, pump ahead of time and bottle-feed your milk while you are enjoying the affects of that alcoholic beverage.
PEDIATRICS Vol. 109 No. 5 May 2002, pp. e72 "Alcohol, Breastfeeding, and Development at 18 Months" , she was "unable to replicate the earlier deficit in motor skills associated with lactation alcohol use. One reason may be that the dose of alcohol reaching the lactating infant is small, and tests of infants and toddlers have limited ability to pick up small effects. Studies of older children may resolve the question of the safety of drinking while nursing."
Her first study had shown a 1-point difference in motor skills. The alcohol use was 1 drink a day. The only case report in the literature of an infant suffering as a result of maternal drinking during lactation was a baby whose mother drank 50 cans of beer a week plus several bottles of spirits. This is excessive drinking, and is harmful to anyone.
As for caffeine, Dr. Chestin Berlin showed that one's uptake is individual. In other words, give 6 nursing mothers an equal dose of caffeine and their babies will all have different blood levels. Caffeine is given to some babies in NICU.
Breastfeeding makes life easier with a baby. The risks of human milk substitutes are substantial: death, diabetes, cancer, allergies, and gut disease. The idea that a mother might wean because she wants to enjoy a glass of wine with her dinner is really throwing the baby out with the bathwater!!
We are in far more danger as a result of all the chemicals and plastics that are ubiquitous in our lives now, that our bodies can not metabolize and that will never biodegrade.