When a mother is expecting her child and plans to breastfeed, she often thinks that she has to avoid all spicy, fatty, sugary and salty food. In fact she has to give up all foods that make life worth living! She is also supposed to abstain from alcohol: gone is the delicious glass of red wine with a plate of garlicky olives. But is this true?

Well the answer is not entirely. Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks) is not harmful to the nursing baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol (ethanol) as a Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding. In plain English, what they recommend is if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough to breastfeed.

So exactly how much are you allowed to drink? Current medical experts recommend that a breastfeeding mother should not drink more than 1-2 units of alcohol per week. A breastfeeding mother should also avoid breastfeeding 2-3 hours after drinking alcohol. Less than 2% of alcohol consumed reaches her breast milk.

There are some myths about drinking and breastfeeding. The first being, that you can get rid of the alcohol in your breast milk by first expressing and then feeding baby later. There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom's comfort -- pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk. Another myth sometimes espoused is that drinking will increase your milk supply. This is not true; in fact, it has been shown to reduce the amount of milk produced.

If you do drink alcohol whilst breastfeeding your baby you should bear in mind the amount you drink and the age of the infant. A newborn has a very immature liver, so minute amounts of alcohol would be more of a burden. Up until around 3 months of age, infants detoxify alcohol at around half the rate of an adult. An older baby or toddler can metabolize the alcohol more quickly.

Here are some of the effects that drinking has on breastfeeding;

1. 2+ drinks may inhibit let-down(Coiro et al 1992; Cobo 1974).
2. One study showed changes in the infant's sleep-wake patterning after short-term exposure to small amounts of alcohol in breastmilk -- infants whose mothers were light drinkers slept less (Mennella & Gerrish 1998).
3. Daily consumption of alcohol has been shown in the research to increase the risk for slow weight gain in the infant.
4. Daily consumption of alcohol (1+ drinks daily) has been associated with a decrease in gross motor development (Little et al 1989).

I hope the above hasnt put you off the odd tipple. One of my personal delights in life is drinking a glass of Barolo wine when eating king prawns fried in olive oil, cayenne pepper and garlic, using a French baguette to clean out the frying pan. When it comes to eating and drinking, everything is good for you as long as you do it in moderation. So be sensible and dont be afraid to raise the odd glass to your beautiful baby.