"There is no law that says I can’t drink and breastfeed": Crystal McCullough Photo: News Channel 3

When Crystal McCullough and her husband arranged to meet friends for an early dinner with their baby, they didn’t expect that it would end with a controversial news story.

McCullough intended to breastfeed her 11-month-old daughter after visiting the bathroom. When she got back to the table at Big Woody’s restaurant, in Virginia, her husband had ordered the group a round of beers along with “fireball shots” (cinnamon whisky).

While she fed her daughter, McCullough had a few sips of the beer, and says she had no intention of drinking the shot until she had finished breastfeeding. But that was enough to attract the attention of other diners, who complained to the manager.

Crystal McCullough and her daughter. Photo: Facebook

After initially asking McCullough to be more discreet, the manager asked her directly if she was drinking. “I said, ‘no, I am drinking this water. The beer is for when I am done and there is no law that says I can’t drink and breastfeed’,” Crystal told Essential Baby.

The manager replied that he had the right to refuse service and asked the group to leave.

McCullough, a chemist who says she had thoroughly researched alcohol and breastfeeding, was left feeling “angered, embarrassed and humiliated”.

“I kept thinking about how the past 11 months all the other public places I have been to and nursed and no one approached us like that or kicked us out. He jumped to conclusions,” says McCullough.

Although in this case it seems that the restaurant over-reacted to the situation, it does raise interesting questions about alcohol and breastfeeding. Rachel Fuller, president of the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), says that when it comes to breastfeeding and alcohol, the most important thing is that the baby is safe.

“The safest option is no alcohol. We also need to consider who is looking after the baby – alcohol consumption may affect a person's ability to provide care to a baby or child regardless of whether the mum is breastfeeding,” she explains.


However, Fuller also says that the ABA supports women in making informed choices. “There are a number of factors that influence whether alcohol will be passed to a breastfed baby, including the time passed between drinking alcohol and breastfeeding the baby, number of drinks consumed and the weight of the mother,” she says.

The level of alcohol in a mother's breast milk will be equivalent to that of her blood (that is, a 0.05 blood alcohol reading is 0.05 in your milk). Fuller suggests that breastfeeding mothers who would like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage can use the ‘Feed Safe’ app to monitor their alcohol intake and calculate how long they have to wait before they can feed knowing baby will not be exposed to alcohol.

Fuller notes that when it comes to breastfeeding mothers and alcohol, planning is crucial. “Some mums express some breast milk for their baby to have while Mum is concerned about the alcohol in her breast milk. When her baby is older and feeding less frequently and more predictably she might plan to drink alcohol when she knows the baby won't require a breastfeed,” she says.

But, in situations like the one Crystal McCullough found herself in, should restaurants and bars have the right to refuse alcohol to breastfeeding mothers?

Ben Neumann is the founder of Liquid Infusion, Australia's largest beverage catering company. He says that while the responsible service of alcohol is an integral part of a bar persons role, refusing service to a breastfeeding mother would be a “slippery slope”.

“Bar people are not medical experts and do not always know the full story. It's not as clear-cut as say not smoking indoors or an underage person drinking alcohol unsupervised,” he explains.

Neumann notes that bar staff shouldn’t be making “moral” or “principled” decisions in situations that they are not qualified to assess.

“Unless there is proven medical and scientific evidence backed by governing policies, it’s just not good business to interfere with an individual's rights without knowing all the facts.”