To want a couple of glasses of wine when pregnant??

[tootidy]

I am nearly 10 weeks pregnant and would like to drink a couple of glasses of wine (per week) as I did when i was pregnant with my other children. The current guidelines are not to drink at all which is different to what it used to be.

[MrsMattie]

You have to call it yourself. You know the guidelines and you know most doctors and midwives don't approve. Personally, I have enjoyed a couple of small glasses of wine or beer a week in the last trimester of both my pregnancies (felt too rough and much too nervous to drink before then) but it really has to be your informed choice - you are unlikely to find support for drinking during pregnancy in many quarters!

[Onestonetogo]

Message withdrawn

[Lauriefairycake]

the current guidelines are not to drink at all - this is because we are over compensating for people who drink too much

You are the only person that knows yourself, if you can stop after one, if you won't drink more than a couple a week then go ahead. This consumption will do no harm.

[tootidy]

I know what you saying but when I had 2nd child 3 years ago, the advice was that you could drink in moderation in any trimester.

[viggoswife]

This guideline thing pisses me off. With DS was told yes, one glass of one a week is fine so duly during my pregnancy I had about 4 glasses of wine during the whole time - seperately obviously. With DD no alcohol is now the guideline so I never drank a drop with her but feel horribly guilty for drinking minimal amounts with DS.

[tootidy]

SM and LFC

Thanks, I know I can just have a couple and did with my other DC but when I went for my booking appointment the M/W but the frightners one me. M/W said that she and other midwives have believed for years that things like ADHD COULD be linked to drinking in pregnancy and that they do not know how much alchol is too much in terms of fetal alchol syndrome(?)

[moondog]

I'd have them and enjoy them.
Better nice wine than shit food which there dont seem any 'guidelines' about.

[ilovemydog]

I think the issue is fetal alcohol syndrome, and how much is too much.

Since testing cannot be done on pregnant women, it's generally unknown scientifically.

[moondog]

An m/w 'believing' something is not the same as properly executed research.

[tootidy]

After my 1st M/W appointment felt very guilty about having a few drinks during pregnancy so far and started to worry about possible damage to my baby.

[MrsMattie]

They are just being honest, I think@tootidy. The medical profession doesn't 'know' the risks of consuming alcohol when pregnant and they don't know how much is too much. That's the bottom line. That's why there are 'guidelines' - they aren't rules, just guidelines.

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

the guidelines state no alcohol because the doctors know that alcohol can damage an unborn feotus and could cause feotal alcohol syndrome but cannot establish what a 'safe' amount is as it seems to vary from case to case.

you will be fine im sure on just a few.

[tootidy]

I feel like I'm giving my body over - happily to this baby but still want to have some treats - I enjoy a few glasses of wine and would like to carry this on.

[viggoswife]

Well my DS has ASD and my dd does not so there is always this nagging thought at the back of my mind that maybe it was to do with the 4 glasses of wine as per guidelines that I drank when pregnant with him. I know 99.9999% that this is probably bollocks but it still nags at me.

[PixelHerder]

Tootidy - exactly, the guidelines keep changing for no apparent reason. And they vary from country to country no doubt. So what about all those women who 'drank moderately' throughout as advised? If there was a significant problem with their pregnancies as a result I think we would know by now.

I'm a believer in being guided by your own body - I didn't drink more than a couple of sips when I found the smell and taste of alcohol (or anything else) repellant, but when things settled down later on in the pregnancy I had a small glass of wine every night with my dinner.

[tootidy]

Thanks ladies,

I feel better about having a few drinks now! SM - I think that it may be true that moderate alchol can have benefical effects - like relieving stress.

[ninja]

You're fine - as people have said on here the no alcohol is partly because they want to avoid too much - I think there is a problem in this country with measures and people thinking what they get in the pub is one measure (when sometimes it can be 1/2 a bottle!)

Make sure you don't feel stressed about that odd glass, that may well do more harm!

[Tittybangbang]

There have been some very senior obstetricians who've come out strongly against the current 'no alcohol at all' guidelines, saying that it needs to be made clear to parents that there is no clear and unequivocal evidence that drinking in moderation harms babies.

[ImnotMamaGbutsheLovesMe]

Sorry, but I do think YABU.

It is such a short time that you are pregnant and it can affect the baby.

No doubt there will be those who say they drank all through and it was fine but it isn't a risk I would take, nor did I.

[pointydog]

It's up to you if you want a couple of glasses of wine so badly. You've read the advice, read the current possible risks based on current research. You weigh up the possible risks on teh one side and your desire on the other.

[tootidy]

Pointydog

It's not that I want one so badly, it's just that would quite like a couple once a week. I have 2DC don't go out often and I like to sit with DC and enjoy a drink when their in bed 1 night a week.

[alicet]

The department of health have even admitted that the current guidelines are not based on any new research but to try and guide those who drink to excess while pregnant to cut down. how patronising and scaremongering to the vast majority of pregnant women who would only ever enjoy a couple of glasses of wine while pregnant or none at all.

I drank in moderation while pg with both of mine and they are fine. It may interest you to know that the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists recommends no more than 8 units a week with no more than 2 a day. Or they did when I was pg anyway (ds2 nearly 11 months old) - I have had no reason to check since. Have to say I would value the considered opinion of a group of senior obstetricians far higher than the department of health! And I would also like to point out fwiw that I don't think I ever drank even approaching this amount but did happily chill with the odd one when I fancied it.

I agree with others that you have to review the evidence yourself and weigh up the pros and cons to come to your own informed decision though. Since it's not possible ethically to do a randomised controlled trial comparing not drinking with drinking in moderation we will never truely know the exact effects of this, but while there is no evidence that small amounts of alcohol cause harm I will continue to see nothing wrong with this.