Althouse: Breastfeeding while drunk.

April 29, 2009

Breastfeeding while drunk.

The crime!

27 comments:

Ron said...: It makes you wonder, on average, which breast would be "the chaser."; 4/29/09, 8:52 AM
rhhardin said...: She ought to able to buy a couple liquor tax stamps to make it legal.; 4/29/09, 8:53 AM
Synova said...: Alcohol does go through breast milk. That's why mothers with very fussy babies that won't sleep are sometimes advised to drink a glass of wine and then nurse... so it's just enough to make the baby sleepy.

Pepperoni Pizza can have the opposite effect.; 4/29/09, 8:53 AM
MadisonMan said...: It's legal in Wisconsin to give your children liquor. That's why this story is from North Dakota.; 4/29/09, 8:57 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Drunken breast isn't best.; 4/29/09, 9:05 AM
Wince said...: I once saw a drunk woman start to breastfeed a baby in front of several police officers that had been called upon to remove her from a crowd of people upset that she was drinking while caring for the newborn at a public event.

Social services took the newborn away.

Not pretty.; 4/29/09, 9:18 AM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: Ron, it's generally the other one.; 4/29/09, 9:19 AM
Beth said...: I wish I could get even a rueful chuckle out of this one, but the police report isn't funny. They were called by the mother after her boyfriend smacked her around.

Young, drunk and stupid and in charge of a new life. There's no happy ending with this family.; 4/29/09, 9:21 AM
campy said...: Young, drunk and stupid and in charge of a new life. There's no happy ending with this family.

But on the plus side, their votes will be straight Democratic ticket forever.; 4/29/09, 9:31 AM
dbp said...: It is hard to see how a significant volume of alcohol could be transfered to the baby in this way.

A person is pretty intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. The body cannot concentrate alcohol, so milk in such a state could not contain more than this. For comparison, a bottle of wine might have 12% alcohol--this is 120 times as much.

It takes 3-4 drinks for an average sized person to get to 0.1% BAC. If a baby ingested a similar volume of 0.2 proof milk, his BAC would reach the astounding level of 0.002! Oh, the humanity!; 4/29/09, 9:32 AM
dbp said...: The mother seems unfit in lots of ways, but the idea that her baby is being harmed by ingesting trace amounts of alcohol is just astoundingly stupid.; 4/29/09, 9:36 AM
JAL said...: What was the blood alcohol level of the baby? If they didn't draw one, the case should be thrown out (says this know nothing non lawyer.)

What does the literature say on how much alcohol is harmful to an infant? (Not a fetus. Oh wait. They don't count anyway. Drink all you want while youre pregnant. Oh wait. That's not a good idea either. Oh. Nevermind.)

Girl needs to not be with guy, needs classes. REAL classes. Needs alcohol rehab. Needs supervised mothering. Needs a social structure no gov't program can provide. Go to church or something.

Will Obama fund things that really might work towards change, rather than fill pockets? (Having some experience working on a grant with teenage mothers, I doubt it.); 4/29/09, 9:49 AM
goesh said...: - failure to specify which mammary gland was being sucked by the drunk baby could send this one way up......; 4/29/09, 9:59 AM
Unknown said...: The infant was only 6 weeks old, so she should not have been breast feeding if she had alcohol in her blood stream. The liver of an infant that age can not process any very small amounts of alcohol like an adult. Even after 3 months of age the mother needs to keep to just a couple of drinks at a time.

Also, like driving a car, someone needs to be the designated sober baby sitter. Friend, family member, purchased service, anyone who will be able to responsibly look after an infant. The "boyfriend" should be equally charged with neglect if he has custodial responsibilities, not to mention the physical assault against the mother.

Hopefully the mother gets leniency for this particular situation, and most importantly, some help in getting her life on a better path. Step one, lose the jerk who assaulted her.; 4/29/09, 10:30 AM
kjbe said...: Young, drunk and stupid and in charge of a new life. There's no happy ending with this family.Yeah, sad and not a good start, for sure, but it doesn't have to be the end of the story.

but the idea that her baby is being harmed by ingesting trace amounts of alcohol is just astoundingly stupid.Rest assured that this child IS being harmed, in oh so many ways.; 4/29/09, 10:33 AM
John said...: In the old days they used to tell women that drinking beer was good for their milk -- affected quantity, or quality.; 4/29/09, 10:50 AM
MadisonMan said...: Rest assured that this child IS being harmed

Okay, I'll sleep very soundly knowing that.

(Sorry, the phrase struck me as very very odd); 4/29/09, 10:53 AM
Synova said...: In the old days they used to tell women that drinking beer was good for their milk -- affected quantity, or quality."

Relaxed the mother.

Put the baby to sleep.; 4/29/09, 11:42 AM
kjbe said...: Granted, poor phrasing. Replace with "There's no doubt".; 4/29/09, 11:43 AM
Jennifer said...: The fact that a small amount of alcohol could be transmitted from Mom to baby seems like a distant second as far as concerns go here. I mean, a wildly intoxicated person attempting to care for a 6 week old seems like the imminent danger to the child.; 4/29/09, 12:07 PM
dbp said...: ditto what Jennifer said. Clouded judgment from being intoxicated has the potential for real harm.

Also,if a baby's liver isn't functioning then how would it process the fat that is in milk? In addition, the harm that alcohol causes, happens in the liver when alcohol is dehydrogenated into acetaldehyde. This is a rapid reaction and the further reactions are slower, which causes a build-up of the aldehyde--which is what causes cirrosis. So lack of liver function might be protective. It is a moot point since the amount of alcohol is insignificant.; 4/29/09, 1:43 PM
Molly said...: Man, that woman had one rough night.; 4/29/09, 2:17 PM
Brooklyn Redneck said...: More intrusive big government. This is none of the governments business. People need to learn to mind their own business again in this country.; 4/29/09, 2:19 PM
blake said...: Brewer's Yeast does remarkable things for breast milk production.

Maybe beer is a short cut?; 4/29/09, 4:07 PM
joewxman said...: We can take this as an opportunity to pass breast milk alcohol tests or something similar. "Lady i need you to express your tits into this cup so we can test how much proof your milk is"

Of course here in NY, albany can tax it!; 4/29/09, 8:36 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Oh man, I'd be REALLY popular if my bodacious rack emitted alcoholic beverages!

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard and they're like, it's better than yours, damn right, it's better than yours, I could teach you but I'd have to charge. (Kelis); 4/30/09, 7:36 AM
William said...: I have breastfeed while drunk without any discernible harm.; 4/30/09, 9:42 AM