Alcohol and Breastfeeding

About the Event

Breastfeeding has numerous benefits to both mother and child. It is a complete food containing all a baby's nutritional needs for the first 6 months, as well as increasing a baby's resistance to infection and disease. Breastfeeding can also deepen the bond between mother and baby and help the uterus to return to its normal size.

Despite these benefits, women face challenges when it comes to breastfeeding. For many women, navigating alcohol consumption presents a significant barrier. Alcohol can be an important feature in social and professional settings, and balancing breastfeeding with alcohol can pose a dilemma for many women.

Currently, the National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines state that for women who are breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest for their baby.

At the same time, for many women, it can be difficult to avoid alcohol altogether. Additionally, misconceptions persist regarding how alcohol moves through the body and into breastmilk, how it impacts growing babies, and best practices for harm minimisation.

In this panel event, our expert speakers will discuss the benefits of breastfeeding, the medical science and potential harm to babies of drinking alcohol while breastfeeding, as well as practical tips to help mothers to minimise alcohol-related harm while breastfeeding.

Meet Our Panelists

Prof Elizabeth Elliott (Chair of the FASD Hub Australia)

This event will be introduced by Professor Elizabeth Elliott, chair of the Advisory Group for the FASD Hub Australia. Professor Elliott is a distinguished Professor in the Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health at the University of Sydney. She balances research with clinical duties as a consultant Paediatrician Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Westmead. she is also a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellow.

Elissa Strumpher (Facilitator)

This event will be facilitated by Elissa Strumpher. Elissa is a mum of two boys, aged seven and nearly three. She has breastfed both of them through to toddlerhood, and is still breastfeeding her youngest. Her background is in anthropology and public health, and she is particularly interested in role of culture in early parenting – how our culturally-influenced values and understandings influence our parenting decisions and experiences. Elissa is currently a community representative on the FASD Hub Advisory Group.

Naomi Hull

Naomi Hull is the Senior Manager for Breastfeeding Information and Research at the Australian Breastfeeding Association. She is a Registered Nurse, an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and has a Master of Public Health (Nutrition). Naomi’s passion is ensuring the community is as informed as possible about the value of breastfeeding and breastmilk, and that mums and families are supported to make informed decisions.

Dr Marnie Rowan

Dr Marnie Rowan is a general practitioner and Lactation Consultant. graduated with a degree in Pharmacy from Curtin University in 1989. She studied Medicine at the University of Western Australia, graduating in 2000 with MBBS (Hons).Marnie completed her general practice training in 2008 and qualified as a Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in 2013. She has a private breastfeeding medicine practice at the Elizabeth Clinic with an interest in management of breastfeeding in the presence of mental health problems and she works closely with local Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Psychiatrists, Obstetricians, Paediatricians and Clinical Psychologists to achieve the best outcomes for mothers and babies. Marnie has been a member of Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) since 2007 and ABM Australia/New Zealand Regional Coordinator since 2010.

Nicole Hewlett

Nicole Hewlett is a proud Palawa woman with demonstrated knowledge translation experience in areas of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing (grief, loss and healing), cancer prevention, diabetes management and maternal use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances. Nicole is a board member and Treasurer of NOFASD. At University of Queensland, Nicole holds two roles; she is a project manager in the First Nations Wellbeing team and; she sits with the child health team dedicated to revising the FASD assessment and diagnostic guidelines. Previously, Nicole managed a $2.1 million nation-wide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander project aimed at raising awareness of and reducing the impact of FASD in Australia. From 2016 – 2021, Nicole was a committee member of the NHMRC Alcohol Working Group, appointed to update the NHMRC alcohol drinking guidelines.

Dr Roslyn Giglia

Dr Roslyn Giglia is a dietitian and nutritionist with a strong interest in public health nutrition, breastfeeding, maternal health and child health. She spent 15 years in academia as Head of the Alcohol, Pregnancy and FASD Research team and NHMRC TRIP fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute, and initially at Curtin University where she completed her PhD on alcohol and breastfeeding and her Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. The recommendations from her PhD informed the first alcohol guideline for lactating women in the 2009 NHMRC guidelines; 'Australian Alcohol Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol'. Her research also gave rise to the development of a free app called Feed Safe, which times the clearance of alcohol from breastmilk as a harm minimisation strategy to support women to continue to breastfeed while safely consuming alcohol.

Caterina Georgi

Caterina Giorgi is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), a leading not-for-profit organisation working towards an Australia free from alcohol harms. Caterina has presented at national and international conferences and has delivered training and workshops on strategy, advocacy, public health and public policy. She has an honours degree in public health and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.