Breastfeeding and alcohol

I am going to tell you not to worry. Your daughter will be perfectly alright - you have neither poisoned nor damaged her. And you have done extremely well to be breastfeeding at seven months.

The studies that show that alcohol can damage a baby have been done on women who drink alcohol while they are pregnant, and therefore while the baby's brain is still developing.

There seem to be rather too many sanctimonious people around who are always 'mother blaming'. If we were to believe everything we read, the top universities would only be full of young adults whose mothers were teetotal, had drug-free births and were exclusively breastfed for at least a year.

Relax - and enjoy your baby. It might be a good idea for you to make an appointment to see your GP and tell him how guilty you have been feeling. I can assure you that he or she will not treat you as a child abuser.