To have one small glass of red wine at 38 weeks pregnant?

It's fine OP.

I was getting really wound up with false starts of labour consistently for 2 weeks, it was draining. My consultant obstetrician told me to go home and have a glass of my favourite wine to try and switch off in the hopes it would relax me enough to get things going. She said a single glass at that stage couldn't do any harm.

When I was last pg in 1997/8 my obstetrician told me that I could have a G&T every day. I only did occasionally, and the occasional glass of wine. Probably two units a week.

When my mother was pg with me, she had a bottle of gin and a hot bath. She didn’t get a miscarriage she got a shot gun wedding and a very healthy baby girl. Also despite drinking socially throughout the pg, and probably having the occasional ciggie too.

I'm not condoning it, just saying there's probably no need to catastrophise about moderation.

I would. I did. Not just once!

"Literal poison" - oh what drama.

Okay but don’t we make choices to prevent harm to the baby? I stopped medication when I was pregnant because there wasn’t enough research to state it was okay. You don’t go to farms with certain animals etc. there are little things you do to try and prevent harm, right? Isn’t this just one of those things?

ETA - as I say, live and let live, I just feel like if a risk is minimal then there is a risk so it’s not worth chancing it. There are lots of things we do to try and help baby grow healthily, this is just another one for me.

What are the risks?

My mum was told to drink stout when pregnant with me

I wouldn't.

Ah but that’s the thing - it’s not according to research.

They won’t do the research because it’s unethical.

There is no evidence having the odd glass of wine over a full pregnancy has any impact on your baby. Cases of FAS are typically in babies of alcoholic mothers.

There are loads of things you will have done during pregnancy that could present some small, minimal, risk to your unborn baby. Driving in cars, crossing roads, cycling. inhaling car fumes in the city and fumes from log burners. Eating out in restaurants and takeaways. Going to farms, having pets. Babies are pretty resilient things. I think the human race would have died out long ago if we needed to eliminate all risk in order to have a healthy baby.

What risks are you talking about?

The only reason that is said is because it’s not ethical to conduct studies on pregnant women.

No amount of alcohol is safe (and that’s whether pregnant or not) according to latest research.

if you can’t control yourself for a couple of weeks when can you?! I find it so odd that people can’t manage to avoid literal poison for 9 months (and as a non drinker I don’t understand why anybody ever drinks it anyway!)

Yes the food the mother consumes will impact her bloodstream.

Where you are wrong is that the impact of a single glass of wine is a big deal, and is akin to ‘forcing it to consume alcohol’ - which it patently isn’t.

The comment what? What’s not accurate? Shit or get off the pot.

If anything would happen to the baby, been born with any condition, realistically glass of wine wouldnt be the reason but mums guilt would eat you regardless so no. I wouldn’t

The comment.

Yes I had 2 glasses a week, no problem. I wouldn't hesitate.

How do you think the baby receives nutrition and grows? Nutrients (and alcohol, and drugs) pass via the placenta. It doesn’t get to pick and choose what it consumes.

When i was a baby it was commonplace to put a little bit of brandy in a baby’s bottle to stop it crying, especially when it was teething. I don’t think it did me any harm 😆

Two years ago.

And all the doctors I know that have discussed it with, have said a glass of wine occasionally is fine.

Lots of alcohol in pregnancy is not a good thing - a very occasional glass of wine isn’t going to affect your baby though. OP isn’t doing something really dangerous.

I went to the pub round the corner from the hospital during my induction in 2015. I don't remember what I drank but quite possibly a small glass of something alcoholic. I'm not scared of alcohol like some posters.

So this is what made me never do it during pregnancy or breastfeeding - the risk is ‘minimal’ but not ‘non-existent’? If it were non-existent then okay, but minimal to me wouldn’t mean there is a chance of risk, and why chance it for a drink? This is just my feelings on my own pregnancies, no judgement at all. X

@StandFirm it’s clear you’re not medical and that you are also not understanding foetal physiology. So how it works is the maternal liver filters all medicines etc and functions as normal albeit with a third more circulating volume and processes all the mother consumes including alcohol. What doesn’t happen is that the alcohol via shared bloodstream crosses the placenta and remains in the foetus. It continues to circulate around both and is processed through the maternal liver. The placenta is not there to act as another liver. So there will be a short term rise in foetal ABV along with maternal ABV as it is the same. Then it reduces as is processed by the maternal liver. You will not have any organ ill effect due to gestation. And unlikely even with a younger gestation at those amounts. Think of the no. of women who drink moderately while in early pregnancy unknowingly. Anyway opiates and other meds can be prescribed while pregnant and it all is circulating in foetus and processed by the mother.