You’re breastfeeding, and it’s your baby’s baptism celebration, or your birthday, or a random Tuesday evening when you’ve managed to meet up with friends. Can you safely have an alcoholic beverage? Do you need to pump and dump?

Good news: Regarding feeding your baby, you’re safe to have a drink or two.

Here’s why:

In pregnancy, an expectant mother’s blood alcohol content is the same as the baby’s. If a mother drinks something that’s 40% alcohol, the baby gets the full effect of what goes into the mom’s blood. That’s why consistently drinking significant amounts of alcohol in pregnancy is related to certain serious birth defects in babies.

But in breastfeeding, the mom’s body processes the alcohol first. Approximately 2% of the alcohol the mother consumes goes into the blood, which then dilutes the alcohol. At its peak, the blood alcohol content of a mom who’s had a drink or two may be between .03% and .05%. (That is, between 3/100ths and 5/100ths of 1%.) The mom’s blood supplies many of the ingredients for the production breastmilk, and the alcohol in the blood goes with it.That means that whatever the mom’s blood alcohol content is, that’s what the breastmilk contains. So the peak alcohol content of breastmilk for a mom who’s had a drink or two is about the same as a glass of orange juice (which has a small amount of natural fermentation) or a slice of yeasted bread. Quite different from serving the baby a cocktail!

So if you’re with the baby, it’s safe to breastfeed, and if you’re away from the baby, it’s safe to express the milk and store it for the baby’s use later.

Eating just before or while you’re drinking will reduce absorption of the alcohol into the bloodstream and milk. (And you may find as a new mother that it doesn’t take much alcohol to feel its effects, with you feeling it a lot worse the next day than you used to, as well, so taking it easy from that perspective is ideal.)

If you want to avoid giving the baby even the tiniest percentage of alcohol through breast milk: Alcohol metabolism varies on a lot of factors, but the blood level of alcohol peaks usually between 30 minutes and one hour after the person consumes the drink. As the blood levels of alcohol drop, so do the milk levels of alcohol. With one or two drinks, depending on the mom’s rate of alcohol metabolism, it generally takes two to four hours for 1-2 drinks to process entirely out of the body. Milk does not store alcohol: it goes out of the milk at the same rate as alcohol leaves the blood.

It’s important to note that although your breastfeeding may be safe, your personal tolerance for alcohol of course affects how well you are able to take care of your little one when you’ve been drinking. And co-sleeping after drinking alcohol is a bad idea, as your natural awareness of your baby while you are asleep deteriorates with each drink you’ve had.

You’ll notice that I’ve said it’s normally okay for breastfeeding moms to have an occasional drink or two, not regular rounds of four drinks. That’s because studies show that babies whose moms drink alcohol are likely to nurse more often but take in a lower total volume of milk, making the babies at risk for not gaining enough weight. That may be because moms who drink several servings of alcohol can experience suppressed levels of circulating prolactin, a hormone that’s key in milk letdown and production.

Of course, if you want to entirely avoid alcohol while you’re breastfeeding, then that’s fine, too! Do what works for you and your family.

One last note: New motherhood can be a challenging and vulnerable time, and we all deserve the support we need during it. If you are an expectant or breastfeeding mom who’s having trouble controlling your regular consumption of alcohol, contact your primary care doctor to schedule an appointment to get help.

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