The issue of alcohol and breastfeeding has caused a heated debate recently. The reason is that the new Nordic nutritional recommendations may contain guidelines that breastfeeding women should completely abstain from alcohol. One who has reacted strongly against the council on zero tolerance is Agnes Wold, senior physician and professor of clinical bacteriology at the University of Gothenburg.
– It is totally unscientific, backwards and moralistic, says Wold in one interview with Svenska Dagbladet.
But voices have also been raised in favor of stricter recommendations. In a debate article in the same newspaper, Frida Dangardt and Sven Andréasson, professor emeritus of social medicine at the Karolinska Institutet, write that there are risks with alcohol when breastfeeding – and that it is best to refrain.
– I think it is time for the recommendations to be changed, says Frida Dangardt to SVT.
New breastfeeding advice will then be presented
The new recommendations will be presented on June 20 and form the basis of the Swedish Food Agency’s guidelines regarding dietary advice in Sweden.
Viktor Ahlqvist, PhD student specializing in health during pregnancy at Karolinska Institutet, thinks it would be unfortunate if the Swedish authority changed its recommendations, from today’s limited alcohol intake – to total abstinence.
– When there is no evidence to speak of, the risk is that you only blame women, he says.
Hear Viktor Ahlqvist and Frida Dangardt develop their reasoning in the video above.