How did you manage to not drink during pregnancy?

[enkelt2]

Just that, really. I've never been pregnant. Out of all the things pregnant women do for their children, the one thing that impresses me the most is that they can manage to not drink! For such a long time!

I'm not an alcoholic but just cannot fathom not being able to get a beer or two every couple of days, whenever I want.

So for people who used to drink regularly before your pregnancy, do you just... go cold turkey out of sheer will power?? Or did pregnancy make you alcohol-adverse?

Genuinely curious.

A friend of mine had no alcohol, caffeine, soft cheese, raw meat, peanuts or any sugar or junk food/snacks during her pregnancy. She also continued mild workouts under doctor’s advice to limit weight gain. Followed the NHS advice to the letter. Baby was healthy, so she decided to keep going with it during breastfeeding, and then in her life even when not pregnant. I’m in awe of her discipline post pregnancy. There is not a crisp or a biscuit in her house!

I spent a long time telling myself I didn’t want kids (tbf I was in a relationship where it would’ve been a terrible idea). It wasn’t until later in life, after meeting DP, that I became a mum. I honestly thought I was too selfish, that I couldn’t give up things like booze, sleep, or the freedom to do what I wanted. And I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had ‘Wtf have I done?!’ moments.

But, like most hard things, the more you keep at it the easier it gets. For me, when I started to feel the pull towards having kids, it felt like my priorities just naturally shifted. So it wasn’t really that difficult to do ‘hard things’ because of what I was doing it for.

That’s just my experience, though. I know it’s not the same for everyone and it doesn’t account for challenging personal circumstances.

I love drinking and didn't struggle at all. It's different when you're responsible for a life you've chosen to make

I don’t drink so for me wasn’t an issue however, going off your fave foods randomly is not the one, with my son I couldn’t eat burgers or crisps just couldn’t do it… and with my daughter I randomly went off bacon sandwiches, my fave thing in the world. She’s 12 now but I’ve since made up for it 🤣

Never managed to carry to term either, but didn't drink while pregnant because I wanted a family.

I drink a lot - more than I should. But not drinking during pregnancy was easy because I was very sick for most of the time and because I chose to have a baby and didn’t want to harm her. I am still breastfeeding two years in and am back to drinking more than I should - I do feel guilt but most of the research suggests minimal to none passes through milk. But am not a saint. It’s just not difficult to abstain when you know the damage it can do. This is why I’d like to see more research into breastfeeding. I would certainly not have drunk if I believed it could harm baby in any way.

I like this answer a lot.

I drink more than the average Mumsnetter (not hard really!). I just didn’t really bother too much with it when I was pregnant. Not because of some holier than thou reason, just read up about it and decided what I was comfortable with. I ate sushi, some cured meats, a glass of champagne and a port over Christmas and NY, baked Camembert, all seafood. I work in STEM, have written peer reviewed papers and a high level of data analysis so I was very comfortable with my choices that I based on research.

Most people want to protect their DC and do their best as a parent. Ideally appropriate lifestyle changes, prenatal supplements etc are started a few months before pregnancy.

There are a lot harder aspects than given up alcohol, like the relentlessness and lacks of freedom. There are of course great aspects too but if these are expected or taken for granted it’s just a set up for unhappiness and regret,

It’s responsible to reflect as you are, not everyone’s choice, not for you at the moment, maybe not ever and that’s perfectly valid.

What’s not ok is to have DC unthinkingly or for selfish motives and to continue to act in these harmful ways. Some of the cases we’ve seen are stomach turning and heartbreaking.

No coffee was the absolute worst

Simple, you just don't want to. Once pregnant, the urge to drink, smoke, or reach for a coffee disappeared overnight for me.

I did, however, have the very, very, very occasional drink. Never a full measure but a few sips of wine or champagne here or there, depending on the circumstances.

The mother is carrying a human being, which depending on what she eats and drinks while the baby is in her body will affect it for the rest of its life.
Even months beforehand both the mother and the father’s habits, are responsible for the physical and mental health of their baby. They should be healthy themselves as everything is passed on.
Think of a plant, if it planted in bad soil and fed drugs and alcohol would you expect it to grow healthy, strong and produce food.

Alcohol was easy - heightened sense of smell meant my stomach turned even if the glass was across the table! DH also ended up mostly not drinking too as a result!

Coffee was way harder and I had my caffeine allowance each day.

Soft cheese - you can have pasteurised or cooked just meant baked brie!

Sushi was a big one for me but had hot smoked salmon rolls instead or cooked prawn ones.

Gestational diabetes with DS2 was a whole another level of working out what I could and couldn't eat without sending sugar levels crazy - greek yogurt would send it nuts for me!

I didn't even contemplate drinking alcohol during pregnancy. I've never smoked 😝but the idea of smoking during pregnancy is just as bad.

You just stop. It's really not hard because your baby is everything. Presume your partner also stops or cuts down.
Preferably before getting pregnant. I stopped tea and coffee too, and there is a giant list of stuff you can't have..
And you won't drink after either especially if bf. " Let me just drink lots of wine " said no one ever with a baby/ toddler. Unless you want to know they are screaming in distress or you're so hungover you can't be nice with then.

If you can't imagine it, you have a problem.

A lot of women are exhausted and/or sick in early pregnancy. Personally I get HG and am so unwell I couldn’t imagine the idea of drinking!

I’m glad I had my children back in the dark ages when I did! The list of things to avoid was very short

Most women prepare themselves for pregnancy- eat healthily, stop drinking, start taking folic acid. If alcohol is your crutch and you have to drink most days then you would need to address that before getting pregnant.

Same. I was pregnant a much shorter time than most. But I never drink ever…,so was t an issue for me. I hate the smell and taste of alcohol 🤷‍♀️

When I was pregnant in the late 90s the advice was not to not drink at all, but to drink very little. I've never been a big drinker and I didn't miss it, although that might have been partly because we had recently moved to a different town and I didn't really have anyone to drink with anyway. If I'd been told I couldn't drink at all I think I would have just accepted that. I love coffee, but the first time I thought I was pregnant I immediately gave up coffee completely because I mistakenly thought you weren't supposed to drink it. I missed it, but I did it because it seemed the right thing to do. Luckily by the time I was actually pregnant someone had told me that you didn't have to give up coffee, it was just that you might naturally stop liking it (that never happened for me).

Couldn’t give a shit about alcohol. The bigger sacrifice was swapping regular tea for decaf 😭😭😭😭

My late sister had fasd. She had a huge operation in the 80s, which was televised for a documentary series. Seeing how much of a struggle her life was, and the affect it had on her was enough to put me off.

It’s really not hard not to drink when you know you can’t drink. I’ve read threads from serious problem drinkers who didn’t drink during pregnancy. You can’t drink, you don’t drink, that’s it, simple!

I decided the occasional drink was fine. After first trimester I would probably have a beer or shandy every week and I think maybe a couple of small glasses of wine throughout the pregnancy. I don’t believe a small occasional amount of alcohol does any harm.

It was very easy to stop because I felt sick as fuck.