Mother Charged For Drunk Breastfeeding: Details Emerge, and the Case Makes Less Sense
The AP reported Monday on the case of Stacey Anvarinia, the North Dakota woman who recently pleaded guilty to felony child neglect for breastfeeding under the influence. She could face 5 years in prison when she is sentenced in August.
As you may remember, the story emerged last week, and initially there were numerous questions lingering. Not to mention a lot of debate on whether alcohol consumption affects breastmilk and therefore the babies who drink it.
But now, a few more details have come out about this case, and it actually makes less sense. Grand Forks Police Lt. Rahn Farder commented on it:
This case is more than just the breast-feeding. It was the totality of the circumstances. It is quite unusual for a mother to be breast-feeding her child as we are conducting an investigation, whether she was intoxicated or not.
Huh?!
Not only does that puzzling quote leave me wanting to interrogate the police force, so do a few other points.
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The police arrived at Anvarinia’s home after receiving a domestic disturbance call. Anvarinia said that her boyfriend assaulted her, and the police report said she had swelling on her nose and chin and a scratch on her cheek. Indeed, in the above mug shot, she does look a bit messed up.
The boyfriend was not there at the time they arrived and has not been charged for the alleged assault. Grand Forks authorities also decline to say who currently has custody of Anvarinia’s 6-week-old daughter.
The AP story also included a mention that the woman had a previous criminal record, but did not say what that involved.
Finally, there’s this:
It’s unclear how much Anavarina had to drink. Police never conducted a blood-alcohol test. Investigators believed she was drunk, and her arrest on a charge of child abuse and neglect did not require a test.
‘The majority of our problems are caused by alcohol,’ said Grand Forks Police Capt. Kerwin Kjelstrom. ‘Our officers handle it so much that it is pretty much a general knowledge thing to know when someone is intoxicated. It’s pretty obvious.’
Oooh. Now I get it. A woman who gave birth 6 weeks earlier and then was allegedly assaulted (in the head, no less) and happened to have a criminal record was perceived to be drunk, so she probably was. Therefore, it was obviously in the best interest of mother and breastfed child that they be separated. Like I said…making less sense all the time.
There are ongoing arguments in the online community about this case. And the more details that emerge, the more discussion there will be, it seems.
Though I don’t agree with most of what the “The Skeptical OB” writes, I do agree with these words, from retired OB Dr. Amy Tuteur,
Since when is breast-feeding while drunk a crime? If she had been bottle-feeding her baby, no one would have bothered to check what was in the bottle. You can do a lot more damage by mixing formula wrong.
Image: Grand Forks County Correctional Center
Has anyone contacted LLL or any other Breast-feeding groups about this? This could be a major story if one of those groups got behind her and made this national news. The police work could be considered harassment and she could receive damages.
It is easy to “commit” crimes today. Even protesting state mandated vaccines labels you a terrorist today (that is NOT an exaggeration). I do not see how whatever crime she committed in the past has anything to do with her breastfeeding her child - or even how well she parents. The statement breastfeeding while conducting an interview is asinine. The baby is not supposed to get hungry because you are a police officer and have questions? This makes me incensed.
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From what I understand technically if she was drunk or drinking at the time of breastfeeding it wouldn’t matter because the body takes time to process everything consumed which will eventually (maybe) end up in the breast milk.
She shouldn’t go to jail or anything for this crap.
I think lately cops are becoming very anti-woman, maybe it has always been that way but lately it is becoming way more obvious.
Those hick ass cops should be the ones sitting in jail for being flat out stupid.
Can you imagine if stupid was a crime? The jails would really be overcrowded wouldn’t they?
*I see stupid people, they don’t know they’re stupid.*
[...] Mother Charged For Drunk Breastfeeding: Details Emerge, and the Case Makes Less Sense by Cate Nelson @ Eco Child’s Play [...]
I agree with Sharon. My friend & I were talking about this the other day & the only reasons we can come up with for why she pled guilty is 1)There’s a lot more to this case than the media is saying & this was a lesser charge. Seems unlikely, because all the cops & prosecutor are doing is making themselves look stupid. 2)She’s low income & only has a public defender who gave her very bad advice. If the only thing they have is basically “It’s weird to breastfeed in front of cops so she must’ve been drunk & that must be somehow bad for the baby,” this case should never have even made it to court. She should’ve been let go with an apology for the trauma they’ve caused her baby & the damage to her breastfeeding relationship.
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I have to say, when each of my children were 6 weeks old, I probably appeared “intoxicated” as well…6 weeks of heavy post-partum bleeding coupled with the incredible sleep deprivation that goes along with having a newborn tends to have that effect. I remember actually running into the door frame of our bedroom door because I was almost asleep on my feet. The cops, in this case, need to get a grip. She should file charges against the police department for failure to charge the boyfriend for obvious assault and for defamation of character. This just makes my blood boil!
so… now that baby and mom are separated and baby cant nurse and mom’s supply will vanish- what happens if the baby cant tolerate the formula, doesnt gain weight and is emotionally needy for her mom?
oh i know- we hit mom with child abuse for ‘failure to thrive baby too’.
much better to take a baby away from her (allegedly) abused mother than to ask her if she needs help.
There’s apparently much more to the story than just breastfeeding under the influence. The belief that she was intoxicated was reinforced by the fact that she answered the door holding her 6-week old son upside down by one leg and began shaking him when he started crying. The police officer(s) asked her to stop and finally she started breastfeeding him to calm him down. There seemed to be a genuine and concretely based concern for the welfare of the child, beyond whether or not he was getting too much alcohol in the breastmilk, however that’s much more sensational than “mother shakes baby.” And her record isn’t just a few run-ins with the law, it’s more like 28, IIRC, enough that there’s a definite pattern and history that could explain the apparent harshness of her recommended sentence.
Rachel,
You’re reporting “news” that I can’t find anywhere except a v. conservative discussion forum.
http://www.republicanoperative.com/forums/family-issues/21271-woman-faces-5-years-breastfeeding-while-drunk.html#post278974
Do you have any links to provide for us so we can read about her abuse and criminal history?
Also, shaking a baby is indeed v. serious, and I’m sure my blog would have been about that if that was what was reported and she was charged with.
If she was shaking a baby in front of the officers, why wouldn’t they charge her with abuse instead of neglect?
(Also, from everything I’ve read–click on the various links–the baby is a girl, not boy.)
I’m confused. Again, any resources you could provide would be greatly appreciated.