According to Roger Friedman of Showbiz411, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon‘s new twins were almost victims of a tabloid scam.
On Tuesday a woman from the Department of Child Protective Services showed up at the LA area hospital where Carey was breastfeeding her twins Monroe and Roc.
The twins were born 2 weeks prematurely and therefore they had higher bilirubin levels in their blood than normal full-term babies. So they required a week’s nap inside incubators under ultraviolet lights to decrease their jaundice.
Friedman’s story goes that Carey wasn’t lactating enough to feed both babies, so a nurse in the NICU suggested that she drink a bottle of Guinness Stout beer to stimulate lactation and increase milk production in her breasts.
Supposedly, the social worker told Nick Cannon she was following up on a claim of neglect (called in by a hospital staffer or a tabloid reporter), because Carey was drinking alcoholic beer and taking pain pills (for her C-section and her rumored tummy tuck) while breast feeding.
The social worker, in cahoots with a nurse (on a tabloid’s payroll), was hoping she could get a picture of the babies to sell to the tabs. But Cannon intervened so no pictures were allowed.
In response to the attempted scam, a horrified Cannon said, “Taxpayer money was wasted, too, because this was labeled an emergency. It was ridiculous.”
Aside from the scam, which is clearly illegal, would a nurse really suggest that a postpartum patient drink alcoholic beer to stimulate breast milk production?
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I did a little research because I have never heard of such a thing. It seems that drinking Guinness Stout beer is an old home remedy that really does help in increasing breast milk production due to barley, an ingredient in the beer.
Accoring to Mother’s Breastfeeding Blog, “…it’s presumed that the polysaccharide (simple sugars) from barley may be the prolactin-stimulating component of beer.” But, the blog continues, “Non-alcoholic beer is equally as effective,” and though it appears that the barley makes beer effective at increasing prolactin levels, the alcohol in the beer causes babies to take in less milk.
I have heard of private hospitals including beer and wine on the menu for their more well-heeled patients who pay as they go. But beer on a neonatal unit? I seriously doubt it.
