Everyone has an opinion on what she should eat, what she should do or shouldn’t do. The opinions and judgments only continue for the breastfeeding mother. A common theme held in the mainstream medical field — cannabis is concentrated in breastmilk. Meaning that somehow, it was conceived that a baby exposed to THC via breastmilk would intake upwards of 8 times the amount of THC that the mother consumed. The study that came to this conclusion had just two subjects and was conducted in 1982. This antiquated data also fuels stigma.
Earlier this year, Dr. Thomas Hale and his colleague, Dr. Theresa Baker, commenced a study to determine if the old information that explicitly states that THC passes through breastmilk, and is concentrated in breastmilk, is actually accurate. After all, it is his authored resource — Medications and Mothers’ Milk — that has bolstered this stigma for cannabis-consuming mothers.
For years, Dr. Hale’s publication has conveyed the data from that 1982 study. Drs. Hale and Baker have now determined that this data is not supported by the known information about lactation and cannabis metabolism in the human body. In fact, Drs. Hale and Baker have discussed that there is no mechanism by which THC would increase in breastmilk. They have also concluded that storage of cannabis metabolites in breast
tissue is very minimal, and that THC specifically metabolizes in real time — meaning a mother who is nursing her child while under the influence of cannabis may expose her baby to THC for the first few hours, but potential exposure does not persist once the mother is no longer under the influence. Therefore, with this information on board, mothers who choose to use cannabis should refrain from breastfeeding for a couple hours following administration. Do you know who else should refrain from breastfeeding for a couple hours after consumption? Mothers who choose to consume wine.
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