Mom Jailed for Breastfeeding While Drinking, Waitress Fired Over It

[RT51]

Actually the malt in ONE beer is good for creating breast milk. I agree that it does take a while for the alcohol to reach the breast milk, so if she did formula later, I say ok.

I do admit to being bad myself once. In 1989, my mother passed away on the day my youngest turned 2 weeks old. After the wake, I admit I had 3-4 glasses of wine, then later fed my daughter. She slept through the night (which ended up being painful to me) but was no worse for the wear and went on to be an intelligent person.

I think the waitress overstepped her bounds, but that is JMO.

 

[ziggy]

Ohmygoodytwoshoesness!

They put alcohol in cold medicine.

My brother was a fussy baby. My mother gave him a teeny bit of beer and it settled his stomach and helped him sleep. This was in the 50's.

They pump unlimited amounts of drugs into babies with vaccines and childrens' Tylenol and worry about a few beers in breast milk? MYOB waitress.

Things are just getting out of control with the "perfect police". Knee jerk reactors drive me nuts.

 

[CHERIE.T]

IMHOO the mother is a moron. What mother with a brain drinks alcohol and breast feeds? The waitress did the right thing.
CPS needs to check on the babies home life. Doesn't sound like mom is smart enough to care for a baby.

 

[ziggy]

IMHOO the mother is a moron. What mother with a brain drinks alcohol and breast feeds? The waitress did the right thing.
CPS needs to check on the babies home life. Doesn't sound like mom is smart enough to care for a baby.

Pretty much all the mothers in the 50's and 60's and we are just fine thanks!

 

[highflyer]

If the Mom drinks two beers and breastfeeds in public think what she does in private. Poor baby.

 

[MLO]

IMHOO the mother is a moron. What mother with a brain drinks alcohol and breast feeds? The waitress did the right thing.
CPS needs to check on the babies home life. Doesn't sound like mom is smart enough to care for a baby.

<modsnip>

Are you saying that Obstetricians, paediatricians, lactation consultants and midwives aren't smart enough to raise babies? Heaven help us! I know some of each and they all think it's fine. Years of study and training and research to learn all this stuff and really what they needed was to join an internet forum or become a bloody waitress! What a waste of time.

I used to think people who didn't breastfeed should have their babies taken away from them. I thought people who used a cot (or a baby cage in our house) were cruel and negligent. People who smoke had no right to have children. I sure as hell never called the police over it though. There are many more things that I find stupid, cruel, lazy, negligent, dangerous etc. but the rest of the world seems to think it's ok to raise their kids that way :doh:

Controlled crying is waaaay more dangerous to a developing baby that two beers ever will be.

 

[MLO]

If the Mom drinks two beers and breastfeeds in public think what she does in private. Poor baby.

I know! Just imagine, she could use *shudder* formula :tantrum:

 

[Donjeta]

If someone has two beers and breastfeeds there baby doesn't get the same percentage of alcohol as in beer, he gets the same percentage of alcohol that is in the mother's blood and there are not going to be measurable levels of alcohol in the baby's blood. Some medications that are given to babies have similar amounts of alcohol as an ingredient and the baby doesn't get perceptibly harmed because of the low dosage. The alcoholic content of the breastmilk after two beers is no issue for me but of course breastfeeding and otherwise being responsible for a baby might be a problem for other reasons if you're drunk and associating with people who are drunk.

 

[CHERIE.T]

Uk mail has her jail pic... She LOOKS like she had more than 2 drinks.

 

[fruity]

Regardless of your opinion about breast feeding, she was arrested for something that was not illegal. Rightfully, charges have been dropped. Police can't just arrest people willy nilly - they have to breaking the law to be arrested, and this woman was not breaking the law.

http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1735559#bmb=1

 

[ziggy]

Uk mail has her jail pic... She LOOKS like she had more than 2 drinks.

You can't tell how much someone has had to drink from a picture.

It's your opinion but it holds not real value in whether or not the baby was in any danger.

 

[ziggy]

Regardless of your opinion about breast feeding, she was arrested for something that was not illegal. Rightfully, charges have been dropped. Police can't just arrest people willy nilly - they have to breaking the law to be arrested, and this woman was not breaking the law.

http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1735559#bmb=1

Thank you Fruity for bringing it around to the facts. I like that.

 

[CatFancier]

Please do not personalize your posts, thank you.

:seeya:

 

[LinasK]

She says she only had two beers. I don't believe her. I want to hear from the bartender.

The waitress did the right thing IMO. The restaurant should not have fired her. She did not impose her will on the family - she called the police so that they could make the judgment call. I don't see any cops losing their jobs despite the fact that they arrested the mother and had her arrange for a sober ride for her infant.

Who was going to drive these people home if they were all drinking?

If this lady had driven drunk and hurt her child, we'd all be screaming bloody murder about the waitress and the restaurant that did nothing. I'm glad the waitress did something and I believe she did the right something.

Yeah, and who's going to test the BAC of her breast milk to make sure the baby isn't drunk???:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[gitana1]

IMHOO the mother is a moron. What mother with a brain drinks alcohol and breast feeds? The waitress did the right thing.
CPS needs to check on the babies home life. Doesn't sound like mom is smart enough to care for a baby.

Pretty much every mother in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and France. Probably many mothers in Northern Europe as well. (ETA: In all of Europe, women often drink while breastfeeding. I did a bit of research). In Europe, having a few drinks while pregnant is not seen as the criminal medical neglect that it is here, for example and studies there show no ill effects from a drink a day. Same thing for breast feeding.

I've seen my cousins drink beers or wines while breast feeding. I didn't blink. And their kids are gorgeous, bright, intelligent kids.

I think we have a kind of hysterical, nannying, over-protective culture of fear in this country that believes anything that could possibly lead to even the most remote, slightest risk to the safety of a child, should be condemned.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world lives and their children aren't scared to do so.

 

[Donjeta]

Yeah, and who's going to test the BAC of her breast milk to make sure the baby isn't drunk???:banghead::banghead::banghead:

There's no point imo as the baby can't get drunk from breast milk.
The volume % of alcohol gets diluted so much down the road.
There are a few parts per hundred of alcohol in beer. Then it gets diluted by the mother's blood and there are a few parts per thousand of alcohol in the drinking mother's blood. Then the baby drinks some breastmilk that has a few parts per thousand of alcohol and then that gets diluted in the baby's blood.

It's more dangerous when you're pregnant than when you're breastfeeding as the fetus gets the same % of alcohol in his blood as mom does.

A much bigger danger is that the intoxicated mom is careless with the baby and accidents happen.

 

[violet67]

thank you so much for that level headed summarization gitana! I have a European background which has a much more relaxed attitude towards alcohol (and a dislike of outright drunkenness) also a much more relaxed attitude towards women's bodies and natural functions. These stories just make me roll my eyes.

 

[Tawny]

If the Mom drinks two beers and breastfeeds in public think what she does in private. Poor baby.

It could be that she was brazen enough to do it in public because she has done research and understands she wasn't putting her child in danger.

 

[gitana1]

thank you so much for that level headed summarization gitana! I have a European background which has a much more relaxed attitude towards alcohol (and a dislike of outright drunkenness) also a much more relaxed attitude towards women's bodies and natural functions. These stories just make me roll my eyes.

My mom is from Holland and my dad from Spain so I totally get you. Over there, women just whip out their breasts to feed their kids, no covering necessary and no one leers. Or cares. Kids run around stark naked at the beach or pool until around 8, 9 or 0 and no one blinks an eye. People enjoy their lives. Wine and beer are part of life. Kids spill out of bars and pubs which always welcome them. And they can have a drink of Alcohol without the police arresting the Parents. And yet, the only people I have ever seen drunk in Europe have been Americans.

Let's face it. In the US we are governed by a culture that has deep, puritanical roots. And that includes the medical establishment.

 

[PrairieWind]

You can't tell how much someone has had to drink from a picture.

It's your opinion but it holds not real value in whether or not the baby was in any danger.

It has bearing on whether the waitress had reason to believe the baby MAY be in danger. This situation really puts the restaurant and waitress in a tricky situation. They can't refuse to serve the woman without exposing themselves to legal action. They can't really even ask her how much she has had to drink without likewise subjecting themselves to liability. If they continue to serve her and something does happen, they are going to have target on them. In this case, I think the best course of action, from a legal standpoint, was to notify the police.