I caught wind of these things and I absolutely had to see for myself – Milkscreen test strips. Created for the mom that wants to enjoy an occasional drink but make sure she is not passing any alcohol onto baby, Milkscreen test strips are the first ever at-home tests to identify the presence of alcohol in breast milk.

Alcohol can pass through the body into breast milk. About 2% of the alcohol you consume will enter your bloodstream and breast milk.  Because everyone metabolizes alcohol differently, the amount of time it takes for the alcohol to leave your breast milk also varies.  The only way to know for sure that alcohol is not present is to test the breast milk.

Yeah – I was always a bit rude to servers who refused to give me a glass of wine if I had a baby in my arms.  Pump and dump?  Really?  (That’s not a solution.  Alcohol is not trapped in breast milk.  It is funneled through breast milk just as it is through your bloodstream, and pumping and dumping will just make you produce more milk a few hours later and feel uncomfortable.).

Anyway.  I am an advocate of a breathalyzer in a car, and think a strip that tells you if you should or should not breastfeed is great.  Any tool that can facilitate you being a responsible parent is amazing.  It’s so good to have tests to know whether you are physically doing well, especially when you want to do the best you can for your baby.