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Jolene is a young mother who is trying to do the right things for her newborn, Sarah, such as exclusive breastfeeding. Jolene lives with her boyfriend who likes to party. Joanne asks you about having a few beers on the weekend. You have always encouraged nursing mothers to have a beer, but now you wonder what is the right answer…?

The frequency and amount of alcohol consumed by women of childbearing age has increased in the past ten years. In our longitudinal studies of depression in pregnant and postpartum women, we have noted that some women have reported that they can regularly ‘hold’ up to 10 drinks, with some stating they can hold 20 drinks in one evening. Pregnant women are told that there is no known safe level for alcohol consumption and are usually advised not to drink during pregnancy. This is underscored by the known teratogenic effects on the developing fetus for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Consequently, most women do cut down the amount and frequency of drinking during pregnancy. Research confirms what we have observed in our studies, that many women resume drinking again soon after the baby is born, although not to pre-pregnancy levels in the first few months postpartum.

Nurses encourage women to breastfeed their newborn infants exclusively for the first six months. Community and hospital nurses are a common source of support and information for breastfeeding women. If a new mother who is breastfeeding asks about alcohol intake, nurses are often likely to extol the positive galactagogue properties of alcohol. Nurses are likely to tell the breastfeeding woman that it is all right to have the occasional drink of alcohol and indeed that it will help lactation. Nurses often encourage women who are concerned about low milk production or anxiety about milk ejection to drink beer, purporting that it will help promote the let-down reflex and milk production. Myths about the intake and effects of alcohol use in lactating new mothers persist. With the increased use of alcohol by women overall, the effects of alcohol on breastfeeding, the nursing infant, and the nurses’ practice of encouraging alcohol intake to the breastfeeding woman need to be re-evaluated.

This presentation will share the latest science about alcohol use in new mothers and help nurses find solutions to questions women may have about alcohol use while breastfeeding. It will describe the effects of alcohol on breast tissue, oxytocin and prolactin production, and its role in lactation in human and animal studies. Nurses will fully understand the effects of alcohol on the breastfed infant, such as intake of breastmilk, feeding patterns, sleep habits, acquisition of taste for alcohol, and alcohol metabolism. New mothers seek the most up to date information about how to care for, and particularly how to feed their newborns. Clarifying the gaps in knowledge and dispelling the myths about the risk/benefits of alcohol usage while breastfeeding, can help them make informed decisions about their drinking habits throughout the time that they are breastfeeding.