Aishwarya Iyer
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Written By: Aishwarya Iyer | Updated : July 31, 2018 3:37 PM IST
One of the most important things that your doctor will tell you when you go for your regular follow-ups during pregnancy or when you consult them after giving birth, is to avoid alcohol consumption or smoking. Smoking or drinking during pregnancy and the breastfeeding stage harmful can be harmful to your child.
What happens if you drink alcohol while breastfeeding?
A new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics published in the journal Pediatrics found that drinking and smoking lowered the cognitive abilities of the child. "Exposing infants to alcohol through breast milk may cause dose-dependent reductions in their cognitive abilities. This reduction was observed at age 6 to 7 years," observed the study. Furthermore, the study added that children of mothers who had high consumption of alcohol had lower non-verbal reasoning scores. Until recently, we knew that prenatal alcohol and nicotine exposure had a direct link to cognitive problems in children, but this study gives an insight on risks posed during breastfeeding. Various studies have concluded that alcohol intake in large amounts during pregnancy result in poor growth and improper brain development in the baby.
We know that a few months into your pregnancy your body starts to make breast milk and breast milk is the best source of nutrition. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnant women should abstain from drinking alcohol. However, for those who cannot leave this habit, there should be a 2-hour gap between consuming alcohol and nursing the baby. Remember that the content of alcohol in the breast milk peaks after about 30 minutes and stays up to 2-3 hours after consumption. Moreover, alcohol consumption is linked to low production of milk for a mother. So breastfeeding mothers, we suggest you think at least 10 times before you have that glass of alcohol.
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