Is Breastfeeding Safe While Drinking Alcohol? Jessie James Posts Controversial Baby-Feeding Photo

Singer Jessie James posted a picture of her breastfeeding her son Forrest Bradley on Thursday, where she appeared to be holding a glass of rose wine or champagne in her hand.

The picture, which she captioned “Cheers b-----s” received mixed reactions from her Instagram followers, despite the fact that the mother of three did not clarify whether the beverage in her hand was indeed alcohol.

While there were fans who were excited that she was taking the opportunity of World Breastfeeding Week to normalize the act of breastfeeding children — writing comments like “You go girl! I breastfed all 6 of mine and I love seeing women showing pics of it! It will hopefully someday normalize it for younger generations” — there were those who took notice of the glass of beverage in her hand more than anything else.

“Everything u put in ur mouth goes to the baby I don’t wanna hear it. Don’t drink if u can’t be responsible. ✋_ not arguing just be a mom and take care of ur kids,” said one user, while another warned, “You and your baby are beautiful!!!! I hope that’s not alcohol while you feeding that precious gift…”

However, not everyone disapproved of consuming alcohol while breastfeeding babies.

“Love it!!! I just learned that it’s totally fine to drink while breastfeeding!!” one mother wrote, while another opined, “People give me s--t for having a drink and breastfeeding… my pediatrician told me it was perfectly fine just don’t get hammered lol.”

So is drinking alcohol safe while breastfeeding? While the topic has been debated for years, a most recent study shows that drinking alcohol while breastfeeding may negatively impact a child’s brain development and hamper his or her cognitive abilities.

A study called "Drinking or Smoking While Breastfeeding and Later Cognition in Children” released in July in the journal “Pediatrics” examined 5,107 Australian infants, all of whose mothers had varying drinking and smoking habits, starting in 2004.

Every two years, the abstract reasoning capabilities of the participants were assessed till they turned 11.

It was found that "increased or riskier maternal alcohol consumption" while breastfeeding could be linked with decreased abstract reasoning in children ages 6 and 7. The same association did not hold true in cases of children between the ages of 8 and 11.

Experts also found that breastfeeding while mothers had alcohol in their systems was directly responsible for the affected cognitive faculties of the children as the link was not present in kids who were never breastfed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while "not drinking is the safest option for breastfeeding mothers” one glass of wine or other kinds of adult beverage per day is generally "not known to be harmful especially if the mother waits at least two hours after a single drink before nursing."

James, who is married to football player Eric Decker, loves sharing photos and videos of her breastfeeding her newborn, often pointing out how difficult it was to raise a child. “It is, like, super tough to try to get a good workout in with your baby trying to nap and crying,” James said in a video she posted in July.

She also talked about the importance of staying healthy and not worry about losing weight post-pregnancy. “I’m not one of those women that drops weight from breast-feeding I’m one of those women that holds onto every little ounce of weight that I have to continue to make milk for my baby. So in the end all that matters is he’s healthy and eating well,” one of her captions read.