Many nursing mothers unaware alcohol reduces breastmilk production, say paediatricians - Punch Newspapers

Child health experts have urged breastfeeding mothers to avoid alcohol consumption as it can reduce breast milk production and the amount of milk an infant receives, further affecting the child’s feeding, weight gain and growth.

They warned that alcohol consumed by breastfeeding mothers can pass into breast milk and expose infants to the substance, stating that repeated or heavy exposure could affect the child’s developing nervous system.

The paediatricians further said that alcohol could interfere with milk production and milk let-down while also reducing an infant’s appetite for breast milk and limiting the amount of nutrients the child receives for optimal growth and development.

The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. It states that breast milk provides infants with the nutrients they need for optimal growth and development.

WHO guidance on substance use during breastfeeding states that alcohol can decrease milk yield and the milk-ejection reflex.

The 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey found that 7.1 per cent of women aged 15–49 had consumed alcohol in the month preceding the survey, while 10.3 per cent of women who drank alcohol reported consuming it every day, almost every day or on at least 25 days in the previous month.

The concerns are particularly relevant in Nigeria, where only 29 per cent of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, according to the 2024 NDHS.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare described breastfeeding as a public health priority and reaffirmed the recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life.

PUNCH Healthwise earlier reported that alcohol could not increase breast milk production, noting that alcohol exposure through breast milk affects babies’ developing brains.

Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise, the Head of Paediatrics at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, Dr Abdurrazzaq Alege, explained that alcohol passed into breast milk and that the amount and frequency of maternal consumption mattered.

“It is known that alcohol crosses through the breast milk. It’s secreted and it passes into the breast milk,” Alege stated.

He noted that the level of exposure could depend on how much and how frequently the mother consumed alcohol.

“So the amount matters and the frequency of consumption of the mother also matters,” he stressed.

According to Alege, one of the major concerns was the effect of alcohol on milk production, which could leave an infant with less milk to consume.

“They can interfere with milk production. So in that way, the child will have less milk to consume,” he stated.

He explained that an infant could appear to be sucking actively without necessarily receiving enough milk.

“You see the child actively sucking, you think it’s actively sucking, whereas the child is sucking but it’s not getting milk,” Alege explained.

He added that alcohol exposure could also interfere with the infant’s appetite for breast milk.

“Another problem is that even alcohol-containing milk also interferes with appetite in the child. So the child tends to have reduced appetite to take breast milk,” he stated.

Alege warned that prolonged exposure could deprive the child of adequate nutrients and eventually affect the infant’s nutritional status.

“These two ways, if it continues or gets prolonged, can be deleterious to the child in the sense that it can now cause an effect in which the child may have some level of malnutrition,” he stated.

He explained that the problem could become more significant during the first 1,000 days of life, when adequate nutrition is important for growth and development.

“If we now have a situation where the child is exposed to alcohol-containing breast milk, it reduces the appetite. It also reduces the milk let-down. So the child is not getting enough nutrients from the breast milk,” Alege said.

According to him, inadequate milk intake could affect the child’s weight gain and lead to failure to thrive.

“It will cause a reduction in weight gain for the child. We’ll call it a failure to thrive. Not growing, not gaining weight,” he added.

Alege explained that the effect could be seen when the child’s weight and height were assessed against expected growth patterns.

“We’ll see that there is a reduction in the weight for age,” he said.

He added that prolonged inadequate nutrition could result in stunting or wasting.

“We’ll see a child that is stunted. We’ll see a child whose height is not what is expected for the age of the child,” Alege stated.

He further noted, “The child is now wasted. That’s another category.”

The paediatrician also identified behavioural changes that could occur in an infant exposed to alcohol through breast milk, including excessive crying and sleepiness.

“You have an excessively crying child, you have an excessively sleeping child, and you have a child that will not even be ready to suck breast,” he stated.

Alege advised breastfeeding mothers to avoid alcohol because of its potential effects on breastfeeding and the infant.

“So what has been advocated is that it is best for any breastfeeding mother to avoid alcohol,” he stated.

Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise, a Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, Dr Muhammed-Jamiu Yusuf, said alcohol consumed by a breastfeeding mother could alter the quantity and constituents of breast milk while also exposing the infant to the substance.

“Alcohol can have effects on the quality of the breast milk because it can reduce the quantity and then the constituents of that breast milk,” Yusuf stated.

He noted that alcohol could be secreted into breast milk and subsequently enter the infant’s system.

“Alcohol can also be secreted into the breast milk. And that means some of that alcohol can get into the baby’s system and have some effects on the baby,” he explained.

According to Yusuf, alcohol exposure could affect an infant’s sleep, causing increased sleepiness and reducing the quality of sleep.

“It can actually increase sleepiness and reduce the quality of the sleep that the child can have,” he stated.

He added that alcohol could affect the infant’s developing nervous system.

“It can depress the central nervous system and cause some effects on the developing brain,” Yusuf said.

Yusuf explained that the developing brain was particularly vulnerable because the connections between the infant’s neurons and nerves were still forming.

“Because the baby’s brain is still developing, alcohol can affect the neurons, nerves and the way they are connecting,” he explained.

He also noted that repeated exposure could affect the child’s growth and normal neural development.

“It can affect growth and normal neural development of the child,” he stated.

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