Milkscreen

[steuard]

Waiting for Kim at the Walgreens pharmacy counter, I spotted a product that made me wonder if the store was engaging in some dark humor: Milkscreen: Breast milk alcohol test strips. If you've just had a night out on the town, don't worry! "Now, with milkscreen™, there is one simple and accurate method to let Mom know if her milk contains a level of alcohol that may negatively impact Baby."

When the pharmacist saw me staring at the box in disbelief, she said, "Oh, I know. Everyone looks at those that way." We all agreed that if a mother actually needed them it was good for them to exist, but we all also seemed to be thinking, "Why take the risk in the first place?"

For all you actual moms out there: Are these test strips brilliant, or disturbing?

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I largely ignored the pregnancy food paranoia, other than caffeine (which I'd largely cut out already, honestly) and alcohol (which I don't drink very much of regardless). There are parts of pregnancy (duration varies) where eating at all is a triumph; no one needs all the paranoid crap on top of it. My assumption has always been that there's precious little science behind any of these recommendations, because what IRB will green-light that? And what subject will sign up?

What to Expect has some useful stuff in terms of milestones, but it also has a definite point of view which is sometimes best ignored. Personally I wish I'd actually *finished* Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth (which *also* has a point of view, but it much more up-front about it, and has an extensive annotated bibliography in case you want to read studies yourself, although the point of the book is basically that she reads science about labor & delivery so you don't have to). I think solid communication with a philosophically compatible health-care provider might be more useful than a book as far as pregnancy goes, though.