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Dear Lactation Consultant:
I have a real problem. I have checked
out your website and I feel you are the kind of person I can talk
to about it. Please do not judge me like so many others have. I am
pregnant with baby #3. I am a smoker and did not breast feed my
other 2 children because I was told by their doctor that it was bad
for them. But thinking I might want to try this time. I took a
breast feeding class where I learned it would be healthier for the
baby to be breast fed than not to be. I asked the pediatrician and
he said absolutely not so I was wondering if you had anything to
back up the breast feeding teacher’s comment. I emailed her
but she has not gotten back to me yet.
Kay Lewis
Brooklyn, NY
Dear Kay:
There is plenty of evidence that
breastfeeding is even more important for babies of smoking moms
since the breastmilk can improve some of the ill effects of second
hand smoke. The protection provided by breastmilk will hopefully
prevent against asthma, pneumonia, ear infections and even SIDS,
all of which babies of mothers who smoke are of greater risk of.
Your baby will develop appropriate immune responses to protect her
and these responses can only be gotten from breastmilk, not from
formula.
Nicotine decreases prolactin in the
bloodstream, so it may be difficult for youto maintain your milk
supply. It will therefore be necessary for you to eat and drink
more than other breastfeeding women. Also, remember that nicotine
takes about 95 minutes to be eliminated from breastmilk, so you
should not smoke within 1½ hours of each feeding.
In 2001, the Committee on Drugs of the
American Academy of Pediatrics did not place nicotine and thus
smoking in any of their tables of drugs that have an impact on
infants while breastfeeding. In fact, they went so far as to say
that because the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risks of
nicotine exposure, nicotine is no longer listed as a drug that is
contraindicated during breastfeeding. Now, Kay, that sounds almost
as if the AAP is saying “go ahead and smoke, because smoking
isn’t a bad thing, but you know better or your conscience
would not have had you write to me in the first place!”
A new study, published in 09-07 (Mennella,
Mourshaw & Morgan) states that nicotine has an effect on the
breastfeeding infant that is not benign. This study indicated that
infants of mothers who just smoked spent 45% less time sleeping
after breastfeeding compared with infants of mothers who had not
smoked.
There is a price to pay for continuing to
smoke and perhaps since you decided to make the effort with this
baby, you might enjoy breastfeeding enough to consider stopping
smoking. With three young children it won’t be easy, so
don’t attempt to do it without the support of family and
friends but keeping yourself busy, which you will undoubtedly be
doing, may just make it happen for you. And think how much better
you will feel knowing you are doing it for all 3 kids as well as
for yourself. Sorry, I didn’t mean to preach, but it just may
happen. Take it one day at a time, get the breastfeeding going well
and see what happens. Let me know, please!!!
--Leslye
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