Alcohol can cross the placenta
The placenta links the blood supply of the mother to the blood supply of the fetus and is essential to the growth of a healthy baby. The placenta cannot keep harmful substances such as alcohol away from the fetus which is why we recommend ...'no alcohol in pregnancy is the safest choice'
Because the fetus lacks the ability to process alcohol as the liver is not fully formed, the fetus can have the same blood alcohol content (BAC) or higher than the mother and it remains at the level for a longer period of time.
Why is alcohol harmful to the fetus?
Alcohol is a teratogen which is a drug, chemical or infection that interrupts or alters the normal development of a fetus, including development of the brain or other major organs. Other examples of teratogens include Rubella, radiation, mercury and thalidomide.
- There is no safe amount or safe time to drink alcohol when planning a pregnancy, when pregnant or breastfeeding
- The risk to the fetus is highest when there is high, frequent, maternal alcohol intake
- The risk of harm to the fetus is likely to be low if a woman has consumed only small amounts of alcohol before she knew she was pregnant or during pregnancy
- The level of risk to the fetus is influenced by maternal and fetal characteristics and is hard to predict.
Learn more: Australian guidelines on alcohol use during pregnancy
What are the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure?
Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause disabilities that are lifelong and may not be seen at birth. This is called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Learn more: About FASD
Alcohol in breastmilk
Breastfeeding can help grow our future children and it is important to support women choosing to breastfeed to grow tomorrow's children.
Informing them that there is support to safely consume alcohol while growing a young child so they don't have to stop breastfeeding is an important message for both health practitioners and the public to give to new mums.
Alcohol in breastmilk can disrupt the hormones needed to successfully breastfeed. This results in the baby receiving less breastmilk and being hungry and cranky.
If this happens the mother thinks the baby is crying because it is hungry and may feel that the baby is 'not getting enough milk'.
This may lead her to introduce infant formula to help settle her baby and may eventually lead her to stop breastfeeding earlier than she planned; and all because of alcohol.
Learn more: Australian Breastfeeding Association
Standard drinks
In Australia a standard drink is any drink containing 10 grams of alcohol.
Counting standard drinks is a much more reliable measure of how much alcohol you have consumed compared to counting glasses.
Alcohol and breastfeeding
Feedsafe is a mobile application which contains answers to questions about alcohol and breastfeeding and can calculate the time until there is no alcohol in your breastmilk and it is safe to feed your baby.
This app is available for iOS and Android devices.
