PRESS RELEASE: The Darker Side of Mummy Wine Culture

The Dark Side of Mummy Wine Culture
Mummy Wine Culture may look social or make for an amusing meme, but the sad reality is most mums who battle with their relationship with alcohol, are also drinking alone.
They are drinking their way through bath time, story time and getting-the-kids- to-bed time. They are not just drinking with their mum friends at social events that revolve around wine. They are also battling with alcohol addiction, alone, at home, in secret.
“I was not only drinking on mummy wine dates but my problem with alcohol got so out of control I would then come home and keep on drinking,” Australia’s leading grey area drinking coach Sarah Rusbatch says.
“The more you drink the more you need, and for so many mums, that means drinking more and more alone at home. The issue with alcohol is it’s very addictive and we build tolerance so very quickly that innocent glass to just ‘take the edge off’ becomes more.” She says the social conditioning around mummy wine culture as women bonding, doesn’t tell the full story of what it is to be a mum of young kids when you are a grey area drinker.
“We don’t talk enough about how irritable and anxious you are in the morning with your kids,” she says. “How hard it is to pull yourself out of bed to meet their needs.”
“Just being fully present with your kids doesn’t feel possible when you are always either hungover, in the middle of drinking or thinking about that next “switch off” glass of wine. It’s a dark side that doesn’t get talked about.
She says the normalization of using wine as a stress-relief tool for mothers is alarming. It sends the message that numbing emotions with alcohol is an acceptable solution, undermining healthier coping strategies.
We are constantly sold the idea that alcohol is ‘fun’ and a ‘reward’ but no one is talking about the darker side; alcohol use disorder in women has increased over 80% in the last 30 years, one in five breast cancer diagnoses is caused by alcohol and drinking one to two glasses of wine a nigh increases your risk of breast cancer by 30-50%. While alcohol can be fun and social and relaxing it’s not without it’s health risks and as alcohol use disorder in women continues to rise, isn’t it time we questioned mummy wine culture and relentless messaging that ‘mum needs wine.’
“No one sets out to develop a more problematic relationship with alcohol, but no one is talking about the risks of this happening when “just have a glass to switch off”; is so carelessly thrown around in every mums group across the country.

“I would just want mums to ask themselves if wine is helping or harming them and if their drinking has gone from social with other mums, to home alone, in secret.”
Sarah has now supported thousands of Australian women to change their relationship with alcohol and her new book, ‘Beyond Booze, how to create a happier life alcohol free’ will be released in January 2024.

Contact Sarah Rusbatch
[email protected]