Breastfeeding

Alcohol test for breast milk

The holiday season is approaching and many mothers are wondering if they must sacrifice their little glass of wine or their flute of champagne.

Some may even consider stopping breastfeeding in order to fully enjoy the many dinners and cocktails but here is a tool to help moms sip a drink without remorse and without harming their little angel.

UpSpring Baby has developed a test called Milkscreen that allows mothers to test their milk before feeding baby. Similar to pregnancy tests, it consists in a little test pad that must be saturated with breast milk. If the strip remains the same, you can breastfeed right away. If it changes colors, it means that your milk contains 13.1 mg/dl or more and you will have to find an alternate solution to feed your baby or wait half an hour to take the test again.

Obviously, moderation is always key but mothers will be better equipped to evaluate the actual impact of their alcohol intake than before, when they could only presume, according to the number of drinks, the time and their weight.

British-Colombians can buy a box of 8 for $5 on the Bellies in Bloom. Please note that this offer is available for a limited time only as the expiry date on the strips is January 2012. Everywhere else, you can buy boxes of 8 or 20 on the UpSpring Baby website.

Image de Anne Costisella

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