Drunken Breast-Feeding Brings Felony Charges
Attorneys say the child neglect case is a first
By KIM VATIS and PEGGY CASSIDY
Updated 10:15 AM CST, Wed, Jun 24, 2009
Nursing mothers or women who have nursed babies are familiar with the urge, be it on the infant's part or the mother's. When it's time to nurse, it's time.
But a North Dakota woman may opt for bottle feeding her baby from now on. Stacey Anvarinia, 26, pleaded guilty to charges that she breastfed her 6-week-old while drunk.
Stacey Anvarinia, 26, could get up to 5 years in prison after police said the young mother was "extremely intoxicated" and slurring her speech when they arrived at her Grand Fork home, responding to a call of a domestic dispute in February.
Concerned for the baby's safety, officers at the scene called a nearby hospital to inquire about it. They were told that breastfeeding while intoxicated could lead to alcohol being absorbed in the infant's system.
“Ms. Anvarinia was notified of that, and she continued to make attempts to breast-feed,” prosecutor Meredith Larson is quoted as saying by the Grand Forks Herald.
Anavarinia will be sentenced in August on a felony child neglect charge.
Attorney's tell the newspaper they believe it's the first case of it's kind to be prosecuted in North Dakota
First Published: Jun 24, 2009 8:21 AM CST
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