Ronnie's ex wife shares an intimate throwback snap of her nursing daughter Leah - taken during her wildest years

  • Jo Wood, 62, shared snap on Twitter showing her breastfeeding in 1979 
  • Said she loved nursing as it's 'good for mother and baby' 
  • Has previously spoken of wild years of drug taking in late '70s and early '80s
  • There is no suggestion the former model had taken cocaine at time of picture 

By Siofra Brennan For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Jo Wood has shared an intimate throwback snap on Twitter showing her breastfeeding baby daughter Leah in 1979 to support nursing mothers.  

The snap was taken during a period of her life when the mother-of-three was regularly bingeing on cocaine with her former husband Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. 

Although there is no suggestion the former model was taking cocaine when the photo was taken, she has spoken openly about her use of drugs in the late '70s and early '80s.  

She has always maintained that she never did drugs when she was pregnant with Leah who was born in September 1978. 

But she was admitted to spending a ‘crazy’ year and a half ‘freebasing’ cocaine with Ronnie and A-list celebrities in LA, which ended in early 1981. MailOnline has contacted a representative for Jo for further comment. 

Laura Spicer, midwife at The Women’s Health Clinic told Femail: 'Generally, all drugs including recreational ones, are not healthy in breast feeding mothers and have the potential to become damaging.

'Because of its chemical nature, it is expected that high concentrations could be found in the milk and this could be harmful to newborn infants who have yet to develop the enzymes that inactivate it. This sensitivity could cause a serious adverse reaction.'

Jo Wood, 62, has shared an intimate throwback snap on Twitter showing her breastfeeding baby daughter Leah in 1979

Jo Wood, 62, has shared an intimate throwback snap on Twitter showing her breastfeeding baby daughter Leah in 1979

Jo and Ronnie Wood in 1979. The former model has spoken openly about the wild years of their marriage in the late '70s and early '80s when they would stay up all night taking cocaine

Jo and Ronnie Wood in 1979. The former model has spoken openly about the wild years of their marriage in the late '70s and early '80s when they would stay up all night taking cocaine

'The use of cocaine while breastfeeding is highly discouraged by the medical profession as we have no data available on the medical use of cocaine in nursing mothers. 

Signs that a baby is suffering from the stimulant are that it can cry and become irritable, affect feeding and become seriously unwell. 

'However, the NHS is there to advise and can help mothers to combat their addiction either before birth or once made known.'

In her autobiography Hey Jo: A Rock And Roll Fairytale Jo speaks of an 18-month-period of 'freebasing cocaine', where the drug is mixed with baking soda and heated in water until it solidifies. Users then flake off chunks and inhale the fumes through a water pipe.

Jo with her daughter Leah Wood, 39, at London Fashion Week in 2017 

Jo with her daughter Leah Wood, 39, at London Fashion Week in 2017 

'My diary for 1980 (my freebase year) is almost empty. But I continued to be a fully functioning mother alongside the freebasing,' she said. 

'It was a crazy time, but I know I was always a good mum. We never did drugs in front of the kids, but sometimes we’d still be high when they woke up, and I would try to sneak off to bed so they didn’t see me.' 

Jo gave up freebasing in early 1981 a few weeks after suffering a horrifying seizure, while Ronnie continued for several more years.   

Jo and Ronnie Wood's tumultuous marriage  

1977: Model Jo met Ronnie Wood at a party following the breakdown of her marriage to Peter Greene

1978: Jo travelled to the US with Ronnie and The Rolling Stones where she threw herself enthusiastically into the party lifestyle, despite being pregnant. 

She recalled in her autobiography: 'Even though I was pregnant I still tried to keep the same hours as the boys, but obviously was not matching their levels of drug and alcohol consumption. (I never did drugs when I was pregnant.)

'My diary entry for April 11, 1978 reads: "Got up at 6pm and cooked roast dinner for breakfast." There were some wild nights.'

Leah Wood, the couple's first child together, was born in September 1978 

1980: Jo admits her diary for the year was empty as she spent so much time 'freebasing' cocaine 

1981: The former model gave up freebasing after suffering a terrifying seizure 

1982: Ronnie met model Kelly LeBrock on Jo's 27th birthday and went AWOL with her for 10 days. Jo tracked them down to a recording studio, but Ronnie denied anything every happened between them.

1983: Jo gave birth to the couple's son Tyrone in August. She recalled Ronnie bringing her a packet of cocaine to hospital to help her recover from the birth, even though she'd given up. He went into rehab later that year. 

1985: The couple married after eight years together 

1990: Jo had come to terms with the groupies on tour, but became worried by Ronnie's growing infatuation with younger women 

2003: Ronnie's alcoholism had reduced Jo to an 'insecure wreck' and he entered rehab for the fifth time

2006:  Ronnie went back into rehab after a spell of increased alcohol abuse

2008: After 31 years together, 24 of them married, Ronnie cheated on Jo with 20-year-old Ukrainian cocktail waitress Ekaterina Ivanova and their marriage finally ended

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In a previous appearance on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour yesterday morning she admitted that their lifestyle during this period made her a part-time parent.

‘I was an after 2 o’clock mother. Jay, the nanny would do the morning, I’d do the afternoon,’ she said.

‘I lived a life that was, I was up until four, five every morning, go to bed about then, get up at about two,’ she added. ‘I had a great nanny for years, my life was upside down for years.

In the music business you stay up all night, maybe it’s because of the drugs, and sleep all day.’

Asked by host Jenni Murray how the drug-taking affected the children, Miss Wood replied: ‘They didn’t see what was going on.

Rock Brady Bunch: Jo and Ronnie, pictured here in 1980, were married for 30 years and have two children together, and a child each from a former relationship

Rock Brady Bunch: Jo and Ronnie, pictured here in 1980, were married for 30 years and have two children together, and a child each from a former relationship

Jo Wood gave up freebasing in 1981 and is now known for her clean-living, organic lifestyle 

Jo Wood gave up freebasing in 1981 and is now known for her clean-living, organic lifestyle 

They just thought they had absent parents. They were very young. Looking back I wish it hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t recommend it, but it just happened. We were out of control for a year and a half.

‘I’m very lucky, I got to a point and turned round and said I can’t do this anymore. I wanted to be a great mum and I knew I wasn’t being so I stopped.

'And I think I’m really a very fortunate person that I was able to stop like that.

‘Ronnie carried on for three more years and I think the more I saw him do it after I’d stopped the more I thought I’m never going to do that stuff again.’

 

 

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