After nine months of pregnancy you’re probably used to saying ‘no’ when you’re offered a drink.
But what about now the baby is here? Is it OK have a drink if you’re breastfeeding?
The short answer is that it is OK to have a glass of wine or a beer occasionally – but you need to plan ahead and you need to understand the way alcohol affects your body and your breastmilk.
Here are some things you should know about drinking alcohol while breastfeeding.
1. Alcohol gets into your breastmilk from your blood. It takes about 30-60 minutes for the alcohol to reach your breastmilk.
2. The alcohol level in your breastmilk is the same as in your blood. So if your blood alcohol level is 0.05 then so is your breastmilk alcohol level. Many factors contribute to your blood/breastmilk alcohol level, including your size, how much you’ve eaten and how quickly you are drinking.… Read the rest