I believe that a mother who breast feeds while intoxicated should be held responsible. I believe that this is a form of child neglect and that there are more similar forms of child neglect that go unreported than there has ever been. Breast feeding appears to be on the rise and is a wonderful choice if done correctly. It costs less and has numerous benefits for the baby. However, I believe the medical field should place more emphasis on counseling new mothers who choosse to breast feed on things to absolutely avoid, importance of eating nutritiously, etc. prior to discharge from the hospital. I also believe it should be mandatory that new parents complete some type of child care classes. These poor helpless babies are discharged in the hands of kids themselves sometimes or mothers who have never had to take care of anyone but themselves in their lives and who are too self centered to properly care for a tiny infant who is totally dependent on them.

I dont see the difference between breast feeding while intoxicated vs.smoking cigarettes or marijuana around babies and children. Exposed is exposed. Arrest em all!

Frankly, you are so wrong, Education and support is needed, NOT law enforcement. Prosecuting pregnant/parenting women will just result in LESS women asking for help and getting treatment. I agree with Pat that BOTH parents should receive mandatory training. In fact, it should be taught in high school since most youth eventually become parents.

I dont think one needs training to tell them that breastfeeding while drunk is not okay. AND Frankly there is no research stating that Marijuana is at all harmful to children or a baby in a womb. And Sending any of them to jail will not make the situation better. I agree with CJ they need treatment and tons of counseling.

This woman needs to be held accountable. Maybe put the kid in protective custody until the woman goes through treatment. In WI a year or 2 ago, a drunk woman was breast feeding her infant, passed out and the baby was suffocated. ...no joke!

I can agree with most comments. I don't think that parents should be arrested. We have gotten so acustomed to locking people up for every little thing. That is not the solution to ALL of our problems(at some point they do need to be). Parents should undergo treatment and I think that if the parent had the child in care with them (they do have programs that allow you to bring your child)then both the parent and child would benefit. They normally provide parenting classes and the children are provided necessary services as well. The ulitimate goal of DHS is keeping the families together. We cannot assume that people know what's right when talk about providing education, if they were raised in that type of environment, then that would be considered the norm for them and they won't see anything wrong with it. I agree with CJ that starting education early (high school or even middle) is a great idea.

I am not wrong for my opinion or view. This was not an accident and yes someone should be held accountable. What makes one drug different than another when it comes to children being subjected to it?? There is no difference! I am entitled to my opinion and made a statement towards the article, not you!

The article states, "Prosecutor Carmell Mattison says alcohol was not the only factor in the felony charge against 27-year-old Stacey Anvarinia". Other than being a catchy headline I am not sure why Join Together saw this as an important article to reprint here.

true julian, the fact that no BAC test was even given would indicate that the alcohol wasn't even one of the leading causes of the arrest. story should read - "police respond to a domestic disturbance call and find drunk people - why are we reporting this?"

right, or "drunk people do stupid and illegal things - forgive us folks its a really slow news day"

The broader policy question that this story raises -- and the reason why we chose to summarize it -- is whether the state has the right to prosecute a woman for drinking alcohol before breast-feeding her child. The fact that child-neglect charges were filed even though no blood-alcohol test was taken actually makes that question more compelling, not less, in our opinion.

I believe it takes a while to make it into the breast milk. But what about those women who drink on Saturday and breast feed on Sunday? They arent intoxicated so they believe they arent hurting the child. I dont believe they have a case if no BAC test was taken. How can they prove it? It would be hearsay.

the facts in the story seem to indicate that the state is not taking an issue in the breastfeeding-while-drunk issue. the police in this matter obviously had other reasons for charging her with child neglect, because if it had just been the drinking, they would have made at least a minimal effort to secure evidence that would help them convect her (BAC test). so the broader policy implication here is that people who are drunk often do things that are harmful to children, but that isn't news to anyone

Just FYI when a woman has alcohol in her blood it is also in her milk. When the blood is free from alcohol, there is none in her milk. Drinking on saturday and breastfeeding on sunday is ok as long as her blood alcohol content is back to zero.

We all know that the best way to protect a baby from getting alcohol through breast milk is for the mother not to drink. But this is the real world and we all know that this happens. So there is also such a thing as pump and dump to be safe. This is where the mother would pump her milk after drinking - ie: out on a special occasion - even if she drank just a little. Then dump it out, this would ensure that the baby does not get milk with alcohol in it.