To ask if you had a drink while pregnant

[secretdoubleagent]

So before anyone judges I'm not talking about going out and getting hammered I am meaning the occassional glass of wine with dinner.

I'm currently pregnant (13 weeks) and just really in the mood for 1 with dinner tonight. I had with my last pregnancy (maybe 3 glasses on different nights throughout the whole time) however it was not until I was much further down the line.

Just wanted to see others opinions really, I know the NHS is strickly zero, however it wasn't that long ago that it was 1 or 2 units once a week.

The night I found out I was expecting DD (now 21) I was completely bladdered after a fun night out. Took the test on a whim when we got home at 3am. Sobered up pretty damn fast. DId occassionally (once a week) have a half of guiness ....or a lager shandy.

DS (now18) - nothing, I was too sick.

DS2 (now 15) I had a couple of glasses of wine in the first week - and then the sickness started so that was that until he was born.

Had a small glass of white wine ( if I fancied one )
DS is now 24. Has a first class degree and is about 6 ft 4 so it definitely didn’t affect his growth or development

Thank you for your responses everyone, I was just curious as to what everyone had done during their own pregnancies.

I've not decided yet if I will have one tonight, but I am jealous of seeing people sitting in the sun enjoying a beer/wine/gin.

I have ordered the book Expecting Better, looks like an interesting read.

Yes with both. The odd shandy or wine spritzer. I was even told my NHS consultant that having the odd wine or beer was never going to do any harm to me or baby and the advice to not drink was total overkill.

No I didn’t but had lost first at 20 weeks pregnancy (had about half a glass) so was perhaps over-cautious.
I think part of the problem is we all have different tolerance to alcohol, metabolise it differently & it is hard to know how much is toxic to the foetus. Also it is easy to underestimate how many units are being consumed.

With DC1 I desperately craved ale and managed to find a very low alcohol one that I had from time to time, and had a glass of champers at a wedding.

With DC2 I had another glass of champagne at a wedding, and occasionally had a very weak spritzer - about one part wine to 9 parts lemonade. Tricked me into feeling like I was having a drink without having much at all.

Yes, occasional glass of wine. I also ate soft cheese and pate, old enough for this advice not to have been around when I was pregnant.

Aagh sorry my post is ambiguous. Drank one 1/2 glass wine in first pregnancy which I lost (no connection I am sure). Did not drink alcohol subsequently.

I read it's the immflammation of cells that is the problem rather than the toxicity.
I was drunk at least twice before I knew I was pregnant and had one drink at a wedding whilst pregnant.

Regular drinking isn't going to be healthy but if you are " a drinker" possibly other factors might damage your child just as much as the odd glass of wine.

Currently 30 weeks pregnant. Didn't have anything for first 3 months but since 12 week scan I've been having a glass of wine a couple of times a week. In fact it was my GP who said to me at the start that I shouldn't worry at all about having a bit.

When I was pregnant my GP actually scribbled on a presciption pad 'two glasses of champagne on Christmas Day' and handed it to me. She was lovely.

Yes, beer with DS1, wine with DS2.

I made an educated decision for myself.

My pregnancy craving was Gin and Tonic! I don’t normally drink. I confess to having had 2 during the pregnancy because I wondered if there was something in the G&T that I was deficient in.

Ps I had never had G&T either before or since

When I am driving (so not drinking) I enjoy sparkling mineral water with ice & lime or fresh orange with lemonade or a mock-tail so I don’t feel I am missing out.
Now if somebody had said no tea, not even organic decaff well then I would be stuck

Not a drop.

If someone gave me food cooked with wine or slightly alcoholic puddings I did eat them though.

Alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water, so it rapidly comes out in cooking and baking.

Yes. 13 and 17 years ago

I had a weak lager shandy (an inch of beer, rest lemonade in a tall tumbler) 3 or 4 times a week.

I’d do the same again

I just think it's quite pathetic that people can't go 9 months without a glass of wine. Pregnant or not really. It's as normalised as orange juice now. You wouldn't smoke when pregnant or stick coke up your nose or chew raw pork so why is alcohol the only one with blurred lines?

It's quite fucking sad really.

I didn’t, but I’m not a big drinker anyway and also had HG so the thought was a bit vomit inducing.

The peak susceptibility to the teratogenic effects of alcohol seems to be the second half of the first trimester, where some studies have picked up effects even at low levels.

Before that (many women have a drink before they realise) and later in pregnancy, LOW levels of alcohol consumption don’t seem to affect the foetus that much when you look at it on a population level. obviously heavier drinking is bad any time after the first couple of weeks.

It is a tough one to advise on from a public health perspective because there is no safe known level but on the other hand the best data we have shows that LOW levels later in pregnancy are not associated with poor outcomes. So I think the NHS advice is actually good.

I personally didn’t drink, and I wouldnt have even I wasn’t feeling so sick, but I’d not judge anyone who had the odd one. I dont like the idea of treating women like vessels - the odd drink probably isn’t an issue.

None at all after I found out. Just don't see the point.

Soft cheese is a myth by the way. Any reputible cheese shop will set you straight. Same with sushi. Load of bollocks. With proper sushi the fish has to be frozen to be sushi and the freezing process kills anything harmful.

No, I wouldn't.
I thought alcohol was poisonous? I don't see the point in having a glass when you can buy a glass of alcohol free wine or make a lovely alcohol free cocktail.

Yes I did (DCs are 8 & 6). The odd drink here and there. Post 12 weeks and never more than one drink. Perhaps once a fortnight.

I'll be flamed big time but I did. A lot less than usual. Say a very weak spirit and mixer, or a small bit of wine topped right up with lemonade. So weak I may as well not have. Plus champagne at my wedding.
I won't apologise or feel bad. My mum drank and smoked heavily through all her pregnancies, and we were all fine. I stopped smoking as soon as I found out. But 9 months without a drink, no thanks. I'll do the same next time and no I won't apologise at all.

Shit faced twice before I found out (the hellish hangover the second time was an indicator). Throughout I had the odd WKD and one bottle of toffee cider when I was 40+ weeks. Would do it again.