To think this is dangerous advice from a midwife?

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Hi All,

Caught up with one of my friends earlier today. She told me she is pregnant. Earlier than the 12 weeks, and I confessed I am too! Lovely stuff.
Then she told me she had already had an appointment with her midwife and it didn't go well, mostly because my friend told her she would like to breastfeed her baby and then made a joke about it being years to wait for a glass of wine. The midwife told my friend that the guidance has changed, she said she didn't need to wait, as soon as the baby has been born she can drink. Infact, she literally said she can drink and drink and drink until she is wasted. The caveat was though that she would need to be not too far gone so that she couldn't hold her baby - holding the baby seemed important, being drunk whilst breastfeeding her baby was completely fine. But being wasted was ok because it didn't affect the milk, was absolutely fine to be off her face.
I have my first appointment next week and I'll be asking my midwife the question. But I was always under the impression any drink would enter your bloodstream and into your milk as well as potentially affecting your milk supply.
Are we both being unreasonable to think this is not only dangerous advice but completely unacceptable?

That's what I was told, and it wasn't that long ago. But it is amazing how advice changes-my gran said they were advised to have stout.

This. You only have to read some of the nonsense on here to realise that there can be a huge gulf between what is said and what people hear.
One that sticks in my mind was an OP ranting about how her GP had told her she must stop having showers immediately. She was asking if it was really true that she could never have a shower again.
It subsequently transpired that she was in the habit of taking long, very hot showers and using body scrub liberally. Her legs were itchy and inflamed.
The GP probably said not to continue with this but have shorter, cooler showers and stop scrubbing.
What she heard was never ever have a shower or wash anything ever again.
So I take things with a pinch of salt.

The midwife is right.

I bet she was saying it in the sense of - you would have to be really, really blackout drunk before your milk is too alcoholic for a newborn, you could be totally wasted and it would still be fine. Not in the sense of yeaaaaah go get wasted!! Just more of an explanation of how little alcohol passes through to milk.

There are obviously other good reasons to avoid drinking too much when you have a young baby. Hangovers being one. Increased risk of accidents. Effect on your own health etc.

I don't know if the midwife or your friend mentioned it, but co-sleeping was the main reason I avoided alcohol when my DC were babies - the combination of bedsharing and a parent having drunk alcohol is incredibly dangerous, so never ever do this. There are ways to make co-sleeping safer, but never with alcohol (or other drugs).

Standard advice. You’re getting get up unnecessarily

Well its over 30 years ago now but my midwife told me the best time l could drink was when feeding the baby as that milk wouldnt have any alcholol in it.
Only once did l over do it, honestly babies and hangovers don't mix, but the odd glass is absolutely fine.

”if you can find the baby you can feed the baby” (but I’d advise a more sober supervisor)

Because women are not trusted with facts.

Actually, moderate drinking in pregnancy (for example on driving level) would very probably be ok as well, especially after the first three months. The foetal alcoholic syndrom comes from a more significant exposure. But it won't be ethical to run a study, so even a herbal tincture with alcohol base (20 drops a day!) is officially not recommended. The sentence: "There is no known safe level or safe type of alcohol to consume during pregnancy." is just a smart phrasing of "we don't know and we don't really care, it is just easier to say zero".

I have had four babies and consumed moderate amounts of alcohol after the first trimester with all of them. I exclusively breastfed all of them untill between 14-18 months and had a fair few glasses of wine aling the way. It would be nice if women could not have their bodies and actions policed/judged/shamed and controlled just because they are child bearing.

rem body language is everything when the midwife was speaking to her, eg saying that alcohol really isn’t a concern when breastfeeding, you can get wasted with a big grin is just being lighthearted

Good on you for coming back and taking it on the chin, OP.

The one occasion I had a glass of wine, the next day DD had such an explosive nappy we were literally scooping shit out of the car seat. I obviously can't prove the two events were related but I feel I should make you all aware of this cautionary tale 😂

This seems outdated

Yes it’s fine. When I had mine two babies in the last decade this was the advice for bf, and likewise the advice for being pregnant was not a drop but you still get people on here saying you can have a drink while pregnant even though that’s out of date.

If that's what the midwife said, it sounds like she's practically encouraging a new mother to get 'wasted', and normalising drinking while looking after the baby. That's irresponsible as drunk people don't make sensible decisions, have poor judgement, are more likely to make mistakes, and shouldn't be in charge of a baby.

One would hope that the father wouldn't drink, and would make sure the mother isn't allowed to care for the baby...but who knows if that would actually happen. It's encouraging a potentially dangerous, unnecessary situation to emphasise 'getting wasted' particularly, never mind the breastmilk.

You can drink when breastfeeding. I used to drink when they were on the breast, figuring it would take a while to get into my milk and probably be gone by the next feed.
It did look odd though 😂

I’d be glad the midwife actually gave facts. Your friend should have the sense not to get wasted in charge of a baby but maybe she needed it spelled out for her.

Co-sleeping is the issue though right? Like sleeping on the baby