Mothers who drink alcohol during lactation could be affecting their breastfed baby’s cognitive abilities, according to a new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study found that when infants were exposed to alcohol through their mother’s breast milk, the child had a dose-dependent reduction in his or her cognitive ability by ages 6 and 7. By ages 10 and 11, though, this reduction was no longer evident. Louisa Gibson, a co-author of the study, said that while she wasn’t able to measure the cognitive reductions in a child once they reached 10 or 11 years old, that “doesn’t mean that the child has grown out of it, or that the effects of the mother’s alcohol consumption aren’t there anymore.” When measuring alcohol intake, Gibson gave the mothers a score based on two things: the amount of alcohol consumed and the pattern in which it was consumed. If the latter was deemed “risky,” it could contribute to a higher overall drinking score. “One woman could have one drink a day, leading to seven drinks per week,” Gibson explained, “whereas someone else can have seven drinks a week but drink them all on a Saturday within 10 minutes.” Gibson found that the higher the mother’s drinking score, the lower the child’s abstract reasoning ability, such as problem solving and thinking through a situation. The children’s cognitive abilities were observed and scored on a test called Matrix Reasoning. The child is presented with a complicated visual puzzle — a pattern with a piece missing. The child has to choose the missing piece from multiple-choice-style options. Gibson noted the difficulty of the test but said that it is a “fair measurement for actualizing a child’s cognitive ability.” She also gave the test to children who had never been breastfed. “The amount of alcohol (the nonbreastfeeding mother) drank was not related to the child’s scores on the cognitive test in any way,” said Gibson. “What that means is that the dependent responses we saw (with mothers who did breastfeed), we didn’t see that in babies who were never breastfed.” Gibson went on to reiterate that this finding gives “pretty good evidence that drinking while breastfeeding does affect the child.” Dr. Daniel Robinson, assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says the study “provides more supportive evidence that the early childhood frame, especially during infancy, is critical for brain development.” “I do think that this study contributes to this notion that how and what we provide to babies — the nutrition we provide them — in that early time frame has long-lasting implications,” said Robinson, who has an expertise in infant nutrition and breast milk feedings. More than 5,100 Australian infants participated in the study, along with their caretakers. The babies began the process in 2004 and were tracked every two years, which Gibson says is a standard time frame. “Two years is a good time frame to where kids have developed enough, and it can be measured,” she said. “If you do too much time, you can miss out on a lot of the development. Any shorter, you will get so much data, and also for families, it tends to be too demanding.” Data for Gibson’s study were sourced from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, an ongoing study conducted by the Australian government examining how social and cultural variables affect physical and psychological development. She analyzed the data to answer her own question, how drinking does or does not affect breastfed babies. “The Growing Up in Australia researchers were interested in how much moms were drinking and also were interested in how children were developing over time,” said Gibson, “but they weren’t exactly asking the same question as me.” So she linked the two sets of data. Aside from the long-term cognitive effects, Robinson noted other outcomes of drinking alcohol during lactation. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... “Both drinking and smoking can alter the quality and odour of the breast milk, and this can have implications on the feeding patterns of the baby,” he said. “Babies seem in tune to the smell of breast milk, and the feeding patterns can change including the number of sucks a baby makes, as well as the total amount of milk ingested.” Robinson also mentioned the effects alcohol has on sleeping. “The alcohol itself has been shown to alter sleep patterns in babies, and when you think about anyone’s cognitive function, we know reducing quality of sleep can have negative effects on brain function. What we’re doing early on is setting these kids up on a trajectory one way or another.”<doc-sep>No alcohol is safe while breastfeeding, new research suggests. Exposure to booze in breast milk reduces children's thinking and reasoning skills at six-to-seven years old, a study found. Alcohol is thought to damage babies' brain cells or could make breast milk less nutritious, leading to deficiencies, the researchers believe. Study author Louisa Gibson, from Macquarie University, Sydney, said: 'The safest option is to abstain from alcohol completely during both pregnancy and breastfeeding. 'This study suggests that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, with every extra drink causing a little bit more harm.' No alcohol is safe while breastfeeding, new research suggests (stock) DOES BREASTFEEDING AFFECT WOMEN'S RISK OF CANCER? Breastfeeding reduces a woman's risk of breast cancer, a report suggested in August 2017. For every five months a woman breastfeeds, her risk of developing breast cancer is lowered by two percent, a study review found. Researchers believe breastfeeding protects women against the condition as it makes them temporarily stop getting periods, which reduces their lifetime exposure to the hormone oestrogen. High oestrogen levels have previously been linked to developing breast cancer. Breastfeeding may also help to remove cells with damaged DNA that may otherwise lead to tumor onset. The researchers, from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, analysed 18 studies that examined breastfeeding. Of these, 13 investigated the effects of the length of time spent lactating. The report also found that carrying excess weight after menopause increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, yet it is protective while women are still able to conceive. For both pre- and postmenopausal women, alcohol increases their risk of breast cancer and exercise reduces it, the report adds. Babies who are breastfed are also less likely to gain weight in later life, the study found. Study author Alice Bender said: 'It isn't always possible for moms to breastfeed but for those who can, know that breastfeeding can offer cancer protection for both the mother and the child.' Advertisement How the research was carried out The researchers analysed more than 5,000 mothers and babies, born in 2004, from Australia. Every two years, the youngsters were assessed. The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics. Alcohol affects babies' abilities to sleep and eat Results further suggest children's thinking and reasoning skills are not affected if their mothers drank during their infancy but did not breastfeed. Ms Gibson said: 'This lack of association in babies who had never been breastfed suggests that the reduction in [thinking and reasoning] abilities was a direct result of the alcohol in the breast milk, and not because of other social aspects related to drinking.' Alcohol may also affect babies' abilities to feed and sleep, making them less responsive to environmental stimulants. Dr Ron Marino, from NYU Winthrop Hospital, argues this could affect communication between infants' brain cells. The findings further suggest such children's thinking and reasoning skills are no longer affected by the time they turn 10, as well as implying smoking while breastfeeding does not impact youngsters' cognitive abilities. Experts argue, however, the latter is unlikely due to cigarettes being known to affect foetal health. Breastfeeding reduces women's risk of pain after a C-section This comes after research released in June last year suggested breastfeeding reduces the discomfort of painful C-sections. Mothers who breastfeed for at least two months after a C-section are three times less likely to experience persistent pain than those who do so for a shorter period of time, the study by Our Lady of Valme hospital, Seville, found. Some 23 per cent of women who breastfeed for less than two months report pain at the site of their C-section versus just eight per cent who breastfeed for longer, the research adds. Anxiety significantly increases a woman's risk of suffering discomfort after the operation, the study also revealed.<doc-sep>
We may need to rethink the whole "some alcohol while breastfeeding is OK" idea. At least that's what a new study is saying. Before we go further, let us make this very clear: This article is not meant to mom shame. We just want to let you know what the experts are finding. And this one is interesting. But keep in mind, this is one study in what will likely be many, many more. New research shows drinking while breastfeeding may negatively impact children's cognition The journal "Pediatrics" released a study this month called "Drinking or Smoking While Breastfeeding and Later Cognition in Children." The study examined 5,107 Australian infants starting in 2004. They checked in every two years until the kids were 11 to assess relationships between drinking and smoking habits of breastfeeding mothers and children’s "abstract reasoning." At the biennial meetings, mothers answered questionnaires about their alcohol consumption and smoking practices while breastfeeding. Children completed three tests to evaluate their cognitive abilities. The study found that "increased or riskier maternal alcohol consumption" while breastfeeding was associated with reduced abstract reasoning in children ages 6 and 7. That link was not present, however, in children ages 8 to 11. The study said that may be because of the children's increased education at that age. The link was also not present in 6- and 7-year-olds who had never been breastfed, "suggesting a direct relationship between alcohol exposure through breastmilk and decreased cognition." There was no link associated between smoking and children's cognitive development. That doesn't necessarily mean it's safe to smoke while breastfeeding, though. This study only analyzed cognition, not the impacts on overall health and wellbeing. What do other sources say? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "not drinking is the safest option for breastfeeding mothers." But about one adult beverage per day is generally "not known to be harmful," the CDC says, "especially if the mother waits at least two hours after a single drink before nursing." Once a mother's alcohol consumption exceeds one drink a day that it is known to negatively impact a child's "development, growth and sleep patterns." Mothers who drink alcohol excessively could also experience reduced milk production. Should moms pump and dump? If you're looking to reduce the amount of alcohol in your breastmilk, pumping and dumping will not do that. Only waiting until the alcohol has left your system will. "The alcohol level in breast milk is essentially the same as the alcohol level in a mother’s bloodstream," the CDC says. So if your blood alcohol content (BAC) is high, the level of alcohol in your milk will be high. If you pump within two hours of consuming a serving of alcohol, it may be best to dump it to reduce your "infant's exposure to alcohol...Breast milk continues to contain alcohol as long as alcohol is still in the mother's bloodstream." Like All the Moms? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. READ MORE: