Breastfeeding: Three times you DON'T need to pump and dump

Breast-milk – aka liquid gold. For good reason too; a load of studies confirm its magic.

So understandably, every last drop is precious – and almost every BF'ing mum knows the pain of accidently spilling a precious vat of freshly expressed milk.

It's no use crying over spilled milk? We beg to differ!

There are other times, however, when you might choose to pump and dump (tipping it down the sink is only slightly less painful than seeing it knocked over, mind). 

Plenty of mums say it's better to play it safe than risk giving your baby something which could be contaminated.

Still, sometimes there is absolutely NO need to chuck out your milk. Here are three common occasions you might want to re-consider…

1. You've been drinking alcohol:

It's not a good idea to be breast-feeding and drunk – simply because it's not a good idea generally to be drunk and caring for a small baby! But it terms of how much alcohol makes it into your milk? Well, it's minute; about 1 to 2 percent, in fact. And alcohol doesn't get 'trapped' either – as you sober up, your milk naturally returns to its normal state.

Take a common sense approach: time your glass (or two!) of wine in between feeds and be stricter the younger your baby is (less than three months).

"Ultimately, there is a higher concentration of alcohol in some fruit juices – which can contain up to 0.1 percent alcohol due to fermentation of the sugars – than there is in the breast milk of a tipsy nursing mom," reported Slate recently. 

2. It looks or smells 'different':

Breast-milk is NOT the same as cow's: colour-wise it can be blueish, creamy, or yellow and still be perfectly delicious for your baby. And different foods might make it an even greater variety of colours. 

Breast-milk will also separate when left standing in the fridge – with the fat rising to the top. This doesn't happen to cow's milk because it's been pasteurised – but it's absolutely no indicator of breast-milk quality or impaired freshness. 

3. You're on medication: 

Paracetamol is totally fine to take while BF'ing – so don't suffer in silence with a headache or sore tooth. A handful of antibiotics and medications are a no-go, but plenty have little or no impact on milk; so long as your doctor is aware that your nursing (which they should be anyway) they absolutely won't prescribe anything unsuitable. 

And if you feel like your GP or doctor is being overly cautious – not giving you medication 'just in case' – then don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion. Being pregnant and breast-feeding are NOT the same thing and the latter is by no means anywhere near as restrictive.