To have a small drink whilst pregnant?

[PayingMyWayYouSay]

I'm just about 20 weeks now. Baby fine. Lovely little boy.

DH and I going to the pub that sells food this evening. Would I be unreasonable to have 1, just 1, WKD with my food?

DH is extremely against it and starts protesting in full when I even mention drinking alcohol

I tried to take a sip of his Fruity Cider today and there was a lot of "Why would you do that?"

He thinks it's harmful and isn't worth a marginal risk.

I know it's my body but it is his baby too so I think he's entitled to express his feelings.

Surely 1. Something unit is okay with food?

It won't be a regular thing, it's just something I fancy.

Namechange2837 smoking and drinking in pregnancy are two complete non comparables. I completed novice eventing on my horse until I was 20 weeks, I am 27 weeks now and I am still riding occasionally.

Namechange I wouldn't say that quoting the CMO is research either. Link to the studies used to reach that conclusion rather than using ridiculous emotive hyperbole?

smoking and drinking in pregnancy are two complete non comparables - I didn't compare them. I asked what people's views were on smoking if they didn't think there was anything wrong with drinking. Several pp's stated they didn't see the problem with odd cigarette too.

Pengg 😉

Normally I'd say there's probably very little risk with the odd drink during pregnancy, particularly in the second half but new evidence has come out showing how alcohol damages the placenta as well as the risk to the foetus, which can then impact on the health of the foetus further
Source: yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/research_foetus_absorbs_mothers_alcohol_nicotine_intake_in_just_two_hours/9675279

I tend to go by what the latest research shows when making decisions with risks so I've changed my own mind (had the odd small drink during my last pregnancy but won't do that this time despite really really wanting a beer!)

There is zero evidence that the odd glass of wine (or indeed WKD for that matter) does any harm. Zero.

Not as simple as that. There's no known safe level. There are studies showing on a population level that moderate drinking has no measureable effect. Public health advice is based on that kind of data. But everyone metabolises alcohol differently and every foetus has differing sensitivities and we dont know exactly which developmental windows are more sensitive. Even in animals that we can dose in a controlled manner those experiments are hard to do.
There's decent work showing that small amounts have tiny effects (not even visible to the human eye but they exist) on facial development (and what affects the face usually affects the brain under it.) what does that actually mean in real life? We don't know.

We don't have enough good quality data. What we do have suggests that VERY moderate consumption has no measureable effects on a population level.

No woman should be censured for having half a bitter with a meal, or a glass of fizz with food. We are autonomous beings and we are not mere baby vessels.

The other issue I have with this kind of argument is that all the attention is focused on someone having a single drink on an odd occasion - those are not the women who need help. The ones who really need help are seeing services stripped to the bone.

[[https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1010/10100602 ]]

Study from Oz.

An excerpt

'Children born to light drinkers were 30 per cent less likely to have behavioural problems than children whose mothers did not drink during pregnancy.

After taking account of a wide range of influential factors, these children achieved higher cognitive scores than those whose mums had abstained from alcohol while pregnant.'

Interesting, I think? Pays to do your own research rather than blindly accepting the policing of women's bodies.

For thinking that women should be able to abstain from alcohol and cigarettes for 9 months whilst pregnant?

There's a rather clear value judgment in "should be able to" - as though anyone arguing to the contrary is simply being weak-willed or battling an unacknowledged addition. Charitably, what you mean is that we must. Others disagree. It doesn't necessitate the level of hyperbole on this thread.

If it's one very occasionally, I don't see it as a problem. The issue is your DH's opinion and how you square that without falling out.

Hmm, in Europe, which the UK wants to leave, it is perfectly acceptable to have a glass of wine a week. With a meal.
My sister, when expecting her first, came home one day at 5 months and felt like a gin and tonic, which she had. My niece is 28, has a degree in psychology, is a trained SEN teacher and getting married next year, so I do not think that G&T impacted too much.
I regret to say the a WKD means nothing to me, but suspect that a glass of good wine or the odd G&T will not have an adverse effect.
Half a bottle of wine a day and shots of spirits, probably not such a good idea.

As PPs have said, the NHS guidance is of course based on science - but it's also based on practicality. It's far easier to have an across the board 'no alcohol for pregnant women' policy than it is to advise that a small amount of alcohol consumed responsibly is fine. Many other European countries don't issue 'zero alcohol' advice but have much better neonatal outcomes. The NHS has to issue advice in absolutes because we seem to be a nation full of people unable to exercise self-control or independent judgment.

Enjoy your drink OP!

Oz?

I meant U.K. 🙄

Here's the article I mentioned before:
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/18/warning-pregnant-women-over-dangers-of-alcohol-goes-too-far-experts-say

I just don't like the attitude that making women this anxious about drinking is justifiable because it's the safer option. That's only true if you don't think women's mental well-being matters at all and so take it out of the equation.

YABU for the WKD - YANBU if you have one drink.

Bodily autonomy doesn't stop when a woman decides to continue a pregnancy to birth.
I had the occasional drink during pregnancy (after 20wk) I also ate soft cheese, McFlurry, and Snickers bars. Sign me up for the selfish terrible mothers club. 👌🏻

I agree with whomever it was that said if your DH thinks he can tell you what to do just because you're carrying his baby, he should also be willing to live to those same demands in support of you.

I am always horrified at the judginess on threads like these. The number of women equating th desire for an occasional drink with bad motherhood/crack Cocaine is astonishing.

Personally I felt zero guilt having a glass of wine and my very qualified, private gynae (who helped me get pregnant and who is a little bit famous in some circles) told me a glass of wine a night in the third trimester probably wouldn't do any harm.

However, I can honestly say I have never looked at a woman choosing not to drink and judged her. Come to think of it, I seldom think anything when I see pregnant women except, "ooh, I wonder when her baby is due." Policing of pregnant women is appalling.

a glass of wine a night in the third trimester probably wouldn't do any harm - probably bring the pertinent word here.

However, I can honestly say I have never looked at a woman choosing not to drink and judged her. - well why would you judge a woman for not drinking?!

I'm 24 weeks and will have a glass of wine two or three times a week, it's fine! I did the same with first baby too

I never feel tipsy and always have it with food. I tend to make one glass of wine into two spritzers so actually I drink it quite slowly and with lots of water. I really wouldn't worry

This type of thread was never going to end well. Personally I didn't drink a drop. After the heart wrenching grief of a previous miscarriage you analyse EVERYTHiNG and wonder 'what if'. Why would you risk it. For a WKD.

Have a blue raspberry Slush Puppy - they taste like WKD blue

I tend to make one glass of wine into two spritzers so actually I drink it quite slowly and with lots of water. - can I just ask why you bother? I'm genuinely interested why people would rather water down something (provably because you're worried about the impact it would have if you didn't), than just replace with something else non alcoholic?

can I just ask why you bother?

It tastes nice.

After the heart wrenching grief of a previous miscarriage you analyse EVERYTHiNG and wonder 'what if'. Why would you risk it. For a WKD. - I have suffered 2 previous miscarriages and then was told we would likely be unable to conceive, before having my DS. Perhaps that's why I'm so passionate about this. I just was so grateful when we finally did conceive that i wouldn't have done anything to risk it. I wonder whether the women that do drink and smoke have lost a pregnancy before. I would find it hard to believe they had done and then drank alcohol following that.

It tastes nice - thanks for answering on behalf of user. Why water it down and drink it really slowly?

I had a small glass of wine a couple of times a week when pregnant, including in restaurants etc. And I never noticed any disgusted looks. It's a personal decision though. I think if your dh feels that strongly then he should abstain too. I think wine might have been my pregnancy craving!