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.

Yes, the odd half a lager or glass of fizz during both pregnancies. I ate soft cheese too. And rare meat. Now have two healthy teens.

Please look up fasd. Please.
Yes i had the odd drink here and there in pregnancy because i believed what i was told - that it "wouldn't harm".
I now realise that's bollocks. Because in my book having an effect on the baby is "harm" and alcohol has an effect. Maybe not a huge one, not one you can point to when baby born. But you are kidding yourself if you think it doesn't affect some small element of baby's development.
And if you drink a lot of at a certain point in development it will have catastrophic effects. The last big scientific study on this concluded that there is NO EVIDENCE that it's safe to drink.
It's every woman's choice - but don't go ahead thinking it has zero effect.

Nothing in either of my pregnancies. Not worth the risk.

Yes, I made a very informed choice (including looking at articles in the BMJ and RCOG) and happily drank one measured unit per day in the second and third trimester. It saved my sanity and reduced my stress levels. High levels of cortisol in pregnancy have been proven damaging!

Don't look up fasd. You really don't need to if you're having one glass of wine.

I had a glass of champagne at a wedding and then 2 other small drinks on 2 separate occasions (1 drink per occasion).

I find it hard to stop at one glass of red if I'm enjoying it with my meal (but don't struggle with other alcohol at all!) So don't drink red whilst pregnant.

This pregnancy we have 2 weddings so I'll have a glass of champagne at both & maybe a couple of other drinks at other times.

I probably drink once a month or less when not pregnant, so I don't really find it a hardship. I only drink if I genuinely want the drink and don't remember the last time I got drunk.

The study
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/7/e015410
Twisted by the UK media much to the horror of the authors.

Yes, 5 months pregnant at Christmas I had about 3 babychams in one evening ... my DS is now 17yrs old and no ill effects came of it

The last big scientific study on this concluded that there is NO EVIDENCE that it's safe to drink.

There is NO EVIDENCE that an occasional alcoholic drink causes FASD. None.

i had about 4 -5 glasses of 125 or 175 mls of wine through my whole pregnancy.

Absolutely don't drink during pregnancy. Not any amount. As a parent of adopted children who have a a diagnosis of differing degrees of Foetal Alcohol Syndrom Disorder (FASD) and not actually full blown Foetal Alcohol I can't stress enough the difficulties my children have in life. There is no safe limit if you drink at the wrong time of pregnancy and the developing foetus is affected. Their brain can be seriously damanged. Learning difficulties, mental health and behavioural difficulties as well as sometimes physical problems too. It's true not everyone who drinks will have a child who experiences these difficulties but some will even when only a small amount has been consumed. The damage is irreversable and the consequences for the child can be catastrophic. Just leave it 9 months and then enjoy your drink.

I didn't have any in all three of my pregnancies, because I didn't see the point in having one!

No I didn’t in either pregnancy.
I had HG with the first so was lucky if I could stomach water let alone anything else.
With the second, I wasn’t as sick, but a close friend of the family who fosters newborns awaiting adoptions going through had a tiny little boy in her care who was born with FAS, so I was totally paranoid

I once saw a thread on here from a lady who had drunk on two occasions before she knew she was pregnant and was seriously considering a termination because of the scaremongering she'd been exposed to. It's very wrong to put people in that position.

I've had alcohol in all my pregnancies. I know where to draw the line and I think the risks are non existent if we're talking about one drink every now and then rather than regular piss ups.

Nellibobs I work with children who suffer from Foetal Alcohol, and some who we suspect where it is undiagnosed (special behavioural school) and I know that there is no way that their biological mothers had an occasional glass of wine or half a Guinness in their third trimester (as I did, without guilt) there would have been significant drinking throughout the pregnancy and a lot more than one glass. Their biological mothers probably wouldn’t agonise over the choice over whether to have that glass of wine...that is the difference

I didn’t but I’m not judgy.

There are no good studies out of the UK btw or the US due to social stigma. Best studies come out of Australia. Read Expecting Better by Emily Oster. The studies actually suggest that mothers who drank moderately during pregnancy actually slightly higher IQs that those who abstained...this may be linked to those mothers being more middle class and more educated than the others though they acknowledge. Very interesting! Read the book, then have your occasional glass of wine without guilt.

...the children had slightly higher IQs. No difference in child behaviour between moderate drinkers and abstainers

Here's what may be affected when drinking at different points in pregnancy. Odd glasses of wine don't cause fasd i agree. But they have an effect.

Read Expecting Better as well and had 1-2 units once or twice a week. Maybe a bit more during the last couple of weeks as it was Christmas. Would do it again as my consultant was an authority on drinking in pregnancy and said it would do no harm whatsoever 😁. Didn’t for first 16 weeks though as was too sick .

I had the odd glass of wine or shandy when I was pregnant with my DCs. They are 2 & 3 now

I expect their nutrition and self care wasn't too great either.

Nah - couldn’t see the point in it tbh. Plus I couldn’t stand the smell of the majority of alcohol.

Did have a glass of champers last week tho and BF my 1 week old baby, people probably judge that tho

Try again