North Dakota Mom Accused of Breastfeeding While Drunk

by Susan Wagner (Subscribe to Susan Wagner's posts) Apr 29th 2009 2:00PM

Categories: In The News, Alcohol & Drugs

Breastfeeding and cocktails do not go together -- or so one North Dakota mom is learning. Image courtesy of Stock Exchange.

When the police responded to a domestic disturbance call at Stacey Anvarinia's house on February 13, she let them in. Then she proceeded to nurse her 6-week-old baby in front of the officers. The problem? Anvarinia was drunk.

According to the police report, Anvarinia, 26, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was "extremely intoxicated" when the police showed up at her door. The officers called a local hospital and were told that "breastfeeding while intoxicated is not good for the child." They arrested Anvarinia and transported her baby to the hospital for observation.

On Monday, Anvarinia plead not guilty to charges of child neglect. Her blood alcohol level at the time of the incident is not known.

Assistant State's Attorney Carmell Mattison admits that this case is unusual: "We have seen other cases of an extremely intoxicated parent not being able to care for their child because of their intoxication level," she said. Typically, though, drunk parental neglect doesn't include breastfeeding a child while under the influence.

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The case is raising all sorts of questions about alcohol and breastfeeding, specifically what amount of drinking constitutes child neglect. The La Leche League advises nursing mothers not to breastfeed while drunk, of course, but does not put a complete prohibition on drinking and nursing. "When the breastfeeding mother drinks occasionally or limits her consumption to one drink or less per day, the amount of alcohol her baby recieves has not been proven to be harmful." According to their web site, it takes two to three hours for a serving of beer or wine to completely pass through the system of a 120 pound woman, so a glass of wine with dinner is fine, as long as mom times her drinking to fall between feedings.

But, the LLL adds, "The effects of alcohol on the breastfeeding baby are directly related to the amount the mother consumes." Because of this, some experts advise nursing moms to stay away from the hooch altogether. "No matter how little you drink," cautions lactation consultant Dee Grabanski, "you are potentially exposing your baby to alcohol."

There's no word on how Stacey Anvarinia's baby is doing, or on whether her drinking is a chronic issue or just a one-time deal. Clearly Anvarinia made a poor choice when she nursed her baby while under the influence, but is her behavior criminal, or just stupid?

What do you think: Should Stacey Anvarinia be punished for neglecting her child, or does that criminalize drinking for all nursing moms? Did you ever drink while you were nursing?

Comments (23)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

FJ 4-29-2009 @ 2:15PM

While drunk at the time, it's tough for me to reconcile my beliefs in individual liberties with the instinct to protect children. We can't really stop women who are drunk or drinking from breastfeeding; they should know better and its nanny-state paranoia to punish people by trying to protect them from themselves. At the same time, if someone is caught doing it - get social services on the scene and do an eval of the household before allowing the baby back into that environment? My personal feeling is you really need to stay away from the sauce completely while breastfeeding, but I don't know if I'd force that on everyone else by law.

tuggles 4-29-2009 @ 3:35PM

This is absolutely insane. arresting someone for breastfeeding while intoxicated. the government needs to step back and become less intrusive in the lives of Americans. It is amazing that we have all these child protection laws and still rank in the middle of the rest of the world in infant mortality rates. villifying others is what the US has become...point your finger...turn on Nancy Grace and say to your self i am perfect i am perfect...

melomoe 4-29-2009 @ 2:38PM

Interesting. She neglected her baby by feeding it. While drunk!

But she was not so drunk that she let her baby go hungry, so it seems to me she is guilty of making a really stupid decision to drink too much. It may have been just a couple of glasses to unwind, but too much for her size. Metabolisms change during pregnancy, hormones run rampant, so I suggest a little understanding and slack.

Separating a breastfeeding baby from its mother is rarely a good idea for more reasons than this space can handle.

lets think 4-29-2009 @ 3:49PM

I'm just gonna throw this out there... there is probably a lot more to the situation than this woman breast feeding while intoxicated. The police don't usually like to remove children from the home and CRIMINAL child neglect charges are not that common. Criminal Charges have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, where if there are child neglect findings through social services those court issues fall to a different level of proof, being "Clear and Concise." If this woman was so intoxicated that she didn't realize that breastfeeding while drunk in front of the police wasn't a good idea, what other poor choices or lack of an ability to make a choice because of her alcohol intake are factors in this situation. I think the media is portraying this with the focus on Breast Feeding to get attention, when it really is probably about a lot more than this.

Jacque 4-29-2009 @ 4:16PM

Let me ask you, if you saw a woman hand a baby a bottle that had several shots of vodka in it with the milk, would you think that was ok? Every day children are damaged by the things that drugs/alcohol that woman put into their bodies while pregnant or breastfeeding and that child has to live with the consequences for the rest of its life! Why shouldn't the woman have consequences as well?

Greentree 4-29-2009 @ 3:14PM

Wow! thats my kind of Mom......I know, let's make another law. We obviously don't have enough on the books now. Better yet, lets put her in a reality show.

Jeff Trenkle 4-29-2009 @ 3:21PM

Another example of Ethanol HATRED!

besides, I think ethanol and sucking on breasts is solid training for what it is like to be a human!

EmanCpatedMother 4-29-2009 @ 3:28PM

25 years ago after having given birth to my first child and having issues with the newness of breastfeeding, the breastfeeding "instructor" nurse at the hospital told me to go home and have a couple of beers and relax things would work themselves out.

Julia 4-29-2009 @ 3:53PM

Thank you. This is common advice the whole world over. Except here, where the self-righteous and ignorant try to dictate to the rest of us - for our own good, of course. Sheesh.

The Dude 4-29-2009 @ 3:49PM

This country just get's more absurd by the second and these cop's obviously have way to much time on their hands. This has to be one of the most obscene abuses of power I have ever heard of. The hospital said it wasn't good for the child? Did the police get a complete explanation on how long it takes for alcohol to get into the woman's breast milk , they admit they do not have a blood alcohol content for the woman at the time of the alleged major crime against humanity, then HOW THE HELL DO YOU FILE CHARGES? Last time I checked this was still America, oh, but that's right, all of the do- gooder's and clueless morons who have nothing to do with this news story, were not present at the time, have not a clue as to what actually transpired will have already tried and convicted this woman in the media and in the public forum. We live in a country where it is the law and the intent of the law that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, wrong. We have become a society where we are now all considered guilty until we prove our innocence. What happens if you are even suspected of a crime, you are arrested, if driving your car is impounded, you are thrown in jail whether or not any actual proof of wrongdoing is present, and to hell with you if you can't afford to be bailed out or you are imprisoned on the weekend. You are punished before even being accused of any crime. I'm not talking about the police coming upon you with a body on the ground right next to you while you are holding a severed head in one hand and a knife in the other. I am talking about stories like this one, stories that happen thousands of times a day in this country, from a cop that has no proof, but suspects that you are not acting normally. Really, he has met you before, he knows you well enough to know what your normal behavior is, he has no proof that you have done anything remotely wrong, but oops there goes your right's out the window, by car, it will cost you hundreds of dollars to get that back, hello jail, you better hope you have bail money or know someone who does. What about tests, do they demand urine samples, blood test's, you refuse, back to jail, you agree and all turns up well and clean, are you reimbursed for your car being impounded, the time lost while you sat in jail or in the hospital submitting to very unreasonable search and seizure of your own bodily fluid's, are you charged for the lab work, reimbursed for your time, HELL NO! Our bad, sorry, just doing our job's, protecting the public you know, no you did nothing wrong but pay up sucker. Where are all of the damned lawyers then? Fell wronged, screwed, well to damned bad Charlie, this is America, call a lawyer, more money, no result, no restitution, hell no, this is America pal, bend over and get used to it.

JK 4-29-2009 @ 4:43PM

BRAVO BRAVO WELL SPOKEN

Julia 4-29-2009 @ 3:53PM

oh dear god. I suppose the idiots that hauled this woman off thought letting the baby go hungry was the better plan. Unbelievable. Only in America.

Melissa H 4-29-2009 @ 6:02PM

I would have to say that there is way to little information here for me to make an informed comment one way or the other as to whether this was the accurate response. The police were already called to the house for a domestic disturbance so that tells me that there is already a problem there. How drunk was the woman... was she capable of taking care of the child at all... I have seen people who thought that they were only slightly buzzed falling down and knocking things around without even knowing it. Every one is so up in arms about how ridiculous this is... but how do we know that. Sure if the police arrested the woman for drinking a glass of wine while breastfeeding her baby that would be a serious issue..... I don't believe however that could possibly be the case here. So before we fly off the handle perhaps we should let the story unfold and get all of the information. It does us no good to speculate and jump to conclusions with half of the information.
Ethanol hatred indeed... I have never heard anything quite so ridiculous. And I suppose the police just showed up at her door because they were doing random house checks to see how the ethanol offenders were breaking the law. GIVE ME A BREAK!

David Robinson 4-29-2009 @ 11:46PM

It should be remembered that the level of alcohol in the mother's breast milk will be less than in the blood and then when the baby drinks the milk, the level that gets into the baby's blood stream will be less than that which is in the baby's gut. So level's in mum will need to be very high to affect the baby. There is virtually nothing on ill-effects on baby from a mother who breast feeds when intoicated to be found in the literature. I am not advocating drunken breast-feeding but drinking during pregnancy is much more dangerous.

LS 4-30-2009 @ 9:57AM

I see quite a few problems here...

1. Police were called for a "domestic dispute". If we click through the first link (to SmokingGun.com), and read through the story, we discover that this woman had just been beat up by her boyfriend. Police noted injuries to her face.

2. No blood-alcohol evidence was taken. The mother had obvious and documented head trauma. How do they prove that her behavior was the result of alcohol and not the beating that she'd just received?

3. They end up arresting her for feeding her child, with no solid evidence of drunkenness (and in her own home), but the boyfriend walks? AFTER (allegedly) BEATING HER?

4. SHE'S busted for feeding her child, on charges of "endangerment", and the guy, who (allegedly) BEAT HER, walks?

Because we all know that having a few drinks now, that won't be completely processed by the body for a couple hours, is DEFINITELY more dangerous than applying your fists to someone's face.

wow. just wow. This country is scarier and scarier every day.

The judge should have taken one look at this case and thrown it and the lawyers out.

Cindy H. 4-30-2009 @ 3:11PM

I'm thinking there is a lot more to this case then the breastfeeding issue. Its reported that there was a domestic disturbance call. We dont know who was involved and whether any was injured, including the child. Perhaps the 6 week old was injured or harmed in some way or was not being taken care of. The charges say child neglect and I did see an article that stated that alcohol is not the only factor in the case. I'm anxious to see this case develop.

Jamie 4-30-2009 @ 3:41PM

I will not understand those of you who believe that being drunk while breastfeeding is not harmful to the child. Having one or two drinks is not the same as being intoxicated. Why ignore the research that proves that the baby will get alcohol through the breast milk while mom is intoxicated. I bet you would not think twice about a cop taking a child away from a mom who was spoon feeding liquor to a baby or put a shot of bourbon in the baby bottle. The baby's liver is not as developed as an adult liver. Really, do your research! This mom is clearly endangering the health of the child. I don't know if an arrest would be warranted, but child services should certainly be involved.

steff hartman 5-04-2009 @ 11:28AM

Sad but true.....Hate for mother and child to be separated, but the mother clearly was unfit, at the time of this incident. I nursed all three of my children and was naive not to realize with the first, that my occasional smoking (3 cigarettes/day) and coffee drinking may have contributed to my daughter's fussiness. Really have to watch your diet and habits, even after the child is born, if you breastfeed. For most useful, current information check La Leche League.

Jenny 5-12-2009 @ 4:18PM

Without knowing all the facts, I am tentatively going to appraise this situation as ridiculous.

Why on earth didn't the cops check her alcohol levels? That is pertinent information, don't you think? Especially since she may have been on prescription meds that could've reacted badly with the alcohol. Especially since she'd just endured head trauma. One more case of idiot cops to the rescue, making the good ones look bad.

They have no way of knowing how much alcohol actually WAS IN her breastmilk at the time of the feeding. It really depends. And because she was, as someone else pointed out, recently beaten up, she may have seemed drunker than she actually was.

But you know what is harmful without a doubt and thousands of Americans do every day? They smoke around their kids. They take home their newborns and light up a ciggie right under their tiny little noses. I work for a hospital, setting these families up with nebulizer machines so that their babies can make a go at recovering from reactive airway disease, which is probably completely or nearly completely caused by their parents' irresponsible habit. When I tell them not to smoke around the machine because that would equate to filtering cigarette smoke into their child's lungs, some of them look at me like I'm from outer space. As if I have absolutely no business telling them to go outside to smoke. And guess who pays for a lot of these nebulizers? Taxpayers, because a lot of these families are on Medicaid! Yet none of this is illegal.

If Anvarinia goes to jail, they need to seek out all of these smoking parents and take their kids away too.

Elizabeth 5-27-2009 @ 4:53PM

There wouldn't have been anything wrong if she pumped enough breast milk for 24 hours....I drank while I was nursing but I didn't put my baby on the tit.I gave her a bottle that I pumped b4 I started drinking.I'm actually more cautious while I'm drinking I'm under age....but hey I'm a parent who stresses and I know my limit and I am responsible enough to care for my child even drunk.I waited 24hours b4 I started tit feeding her again....now drinking and just not giving a sh*t that your getting your baby plastered too is a crime and I think the woman should lose her child for being irresponsible this isn't 1872 where no one gives a sh*t what you do with your family.

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