L.B.
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There was a question a few days ago about having 2 beers and breastfeeding. Then I saw a news article about a woman who was arrested for drinking and breastfeeding. The mom claims she had 2 beers, the waitress who called the police claims that there were other glasses in front of the mom, though she did not see the mom drink anything other than beer. The police did not get a BAC, so no telling how much the mom had.
For the question on here, most moms said that they would be OK with a beer or two while breastfeeding. I am really of two minds about this- if the mom is telling the truth and had 2 beers over 1.5 hours including a meal or pizza and spinach dip, I think arresting her was way out of line. But arguably, there would be a point where drinking and breastfeeding would be endangering the child to the point where arrest would be justified.
What do you think? Should there be a BAC standard, like drinking? Should there be a BWI offense on the books? How should the line be drawn, when we know "individual choice" can lead irresponsible/addict moms to drink heavily and breastfeed on a regular basis? I say that based on actual knowledge of some CPS cases with alcoholic moms breastfeeding, at least one at .3 and one who was literally falling-down-drunk.
ETA: I know, my first thought was "Oh lord, I hope that wasn't Shannon R who is now cursing my name for telling her she was fine!!" And according to the story, they did not get a BAC because they only do that for DWI, which seems like a weak excuse for sloppy police work. That is likely why the prosecutor had to throw out the case.
ETA2: There is case law in many states allowing pregnant mothers who abuse drugs or alcohol to be charged with child abuse/child endangerment.
Breast milk is not like blood. Yes some of what is in your bloodstream will make it into your breast milk but not at the levels people imagine. It is actually quite insignificant.
So blood alcohol level is irrelevant. They also didn't check hers because there were several other people drinking at the table. What kind of idiot would look at a table of five and attribute all alcoholic beverages to one person. No wonder that waitress got fired. She showed up, got all self righteous, and called the cops.
To me the real problem is that waitress and people like her. When did it become a blood sport to throw all common sense out the door and just call the cops every time you 'think' someone 'may' be doing something wrong.
So no, because apparently even the authorities say falling down drunk does not effect the breast milk that much. The greater risk would be dropping the baby.
Looking at your what happened, the waitress that ACTUALLY waited on her said she only ordered two beers!! It would have been nice if miss busy body actually asked her coworker how many beers did that woman had? Maybe she would still have a job and that mom wouldn't have been put through that.
This is crazy. It is time to silence the fear mongers and go back to a sense of reason.
Many things are crossing my mind right now, and I'm too much of a lady to say them. PurpleStar thanks for the article. The government is waaaaaay too involved in our lives. We can have an abortion but oh my, a beer...or two....what has the world come to? The woman said if it happened again, she'd call the police again. Nobody learned anything except Shannon now thinks she can't enjoy her birthday. Did you hear about the Mom that supplemented her breast milk with goat's milk and had DFACS called? Goats milk has been a supplement to breast milk for thousands of years. Did you hear about the Italian woman that didn't want to take her pharmaceuticals because she was scared they would hurt the baby? She fled to England where the government gave her a forced C-section and took her child. It's been in the foster case system now for 14 months.
The world is upside down. Sorry for the rant...but if asked again, I'd do it again, lol!
You know.....I'm all for a glass of wine or beer, nursing or not, but if you're so hell bent on drinking while nursing that you're drinking more than one beer IN PUBLIC while nursing...it seems like she probably drinks a lot in general. Is it the police's business? Can anyone prove it? Did she break the law? Is it enough to harm her milk? Are those the first two beers she's had in weeks? Is this a rare night out for her and she usually doesn't drink while nursing? I don't know. But she seems like kind of a crack pot. Even so, the waitress was a little out of line when the baby was obviously not unsafe if there was a table full of people....but you know, she probably felt alarmed and overreacted..it was tacky to be out drinking and nursing imo. I probably wouldn't have called the cops though...I may have asked the manager if anything was amiss...
I saw a pregnant woman sitting at a bar, alone drinking beer after beer.
What about that?
i find it alarming that moderation is no longer a guide, and that people are trying to seek to legislate women's behavior above and beyond what's standard.
of course breastfeeding women shouldn't get stinko. but unless we're willing to also slam down the laws on all parents, drivers, medics etc etc etc we need to tread very carefully here.
i loathe the assumption that the woman is lying about how many beers she had. why is that the default?
i'd prefer that pregnant and breastfeeding women didn't drink at all. but as long as alcohol is legal, and they're not drinking over the legal limit and driving, as far as i'm concerned she's in the clear.
scary scary scary.
khairete
S. (whose mom drank one beer a day- on the doctor's recommendation- to 'enrich' her milk. fads change.)
Why be risky? Pump and dump if you want to drink. You have the rest of your life to drink.
What law did she break? Having a few drinks while breastfeeding is NOT illegal in any state that I am aware of...I am assuming there were other grounds for calling the police.
I did sometimes have a glass of wine - that was all it took after not drinking for 9+ months. I took DS with me out to my Mommy's Night out when he was an infant because it was easier that way for my husband. He would sleep in his sling and then occasionally nurse so no one noticed him except me. I only did this in conjunction with dinner and truly don't think it hurt him.
I also had a few glasses of wine during my pregnancy. When my mom had me they told nursing moms to have a beer everyday because it helped milk production. We know now that it doesn't really - but I am sure that the relaxing effect of the beer did help the mother to let down the milk!!! So between the relaxing effect of the beer and the power of suggestion I guess it worked!
If they start policing what nursing moms are eating/drinking than I guess we do live in a true police state. Glad I am done with that!
There are a ton of things that, according to various "experts," nursing mothers "shouldn't" eat or drink. Alcohol is only one of them. Unless they're going to form a boob squad and monitor nursing mothers to make sure they're not eating or drinking ANYTHING that could pass through breast milk to the baby, they need to leave this one alone.
You know what? When I was a kid women drank hard liquor, smoked cigarettes all day and all night, they took all sorts of drugs for illnesses, and they ate tuna and any food they wanted. Because no one said they shouldn't.
Nowadays it's crazy all the rules they have. Our kids today are more protected than anything. I think that arresting someone who's been drinking and is now breastfeeding is nuts. If she's obviously drunk, stumbling around, slurring her words, then someone should do something but just drinking a couple of beers with dinner...anyone been to Europe? They drink wine like we drink water and their kids are fine.
I'm a retired police officer. There is more to that story than drinking beer. The mother was not taking care of her kids. There would have to be evidence that her actions, not just drinking beer, were endangering her kids.
Who called the police and why? If she were taking care of her kids and was mostly sober no one would even notice her. If she was obviously drunk and leaving to drive with her kids that would be endangering her children. If she was yelling angrily at her kids that could be endangerment. Since the waitress did not know how much she drank I suggest that she was arrested on this charge because of how she was treating her kids.
Also know that we can know when a person is under the influence of alcohol without taking a breathalyzer test. A police officer has to administera physical test to show that it's likely to be under tye influence before they give a breathalyzer. And breathalyzer tests are administered when someone is driving. Since she wasn't driving it would be highly unlikely that the police would administer one. The police would have to show that she was endangering by documenting her actions.
BTW: medical research has shown that a couple of beers while nursing will not harm the baby. I understand moms wanting to not drink while nursing to be sure. That is ok. Because scientists have said that drinking beer while nursing having a 2 or more beers would not be grounds for arrest. Know that cops would get in trouble if they go outside the law.
If this mother had not had previous difficulty with the law it is not uncommon for the court to dismiss the charges especially if the mom is cooperative in making sure this doesn't happen again. The charge is still a part of her record if more incidents become known.
