To ask if you drunk alcohol during your pregnancy?

[ilovecheese1]

& if you did how much/often? Or what your opinions are on moderate drinking during pregnancy?

www.businesstelegraph.co.uk/not-even-one-glass-of-wine-a-week-is-safe-during-pregnancy-study-finds/

Half a glass of champagne before I knew I was pregnant with dc2. Nothing with the others.

If you read Expecting Better then balance it by reading other sources too.

www.nofas.org/emily_oster/

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871619300535

I didn't drink at all but I hadn't been drinking for two years prior anyway. It wasn't something I personally was comfortable with or would have felt good about, but I don't judge others for having the odd glass. It's just not something I felt was worth it.

A glass of wine now and then.

I had a small glass of wine or champagne about 4 times during pregnancy, but I think 2-3 glasses at once is probably unwise.

That’s an article, not a study. It’s done on 40 teenagers(!) in China. It has not mention of how much the mothers had been drinking. In fact, the article actually says:

In a study on teenagers, scans revealed a pattern of brain damage in those who had foetal alcohol syndrome, caused by alcohol exposure while in the womb.

So these teenagers were actually already diagnosed with FAS then? We already knew there was ongoing complications if developing FAS but this article doesn’t actually reference the study suggesting the mothers drank low levels of alcohol.

Finally, even aside for this it’s not a casual link. You can’t make a casual link on only 40 grown up teenagers without first discounting culture, lifestyles, genetics, eating habits, etc and come to this type of conclusion.

Also you said new ‘studies’ - is there more than one?

But that link to the study from the study in China says

‘In a study on teenagers, scans revealed a pattern of brain damage in those who had foetal alcohol syndrome, caused by alcohol exposure while in the womb.’

Then extrapolates from that that there is no safe level of alcohol exposure. I repeat there is absolutely no evidence that light consumption causes problems for an unborn child.

FAS is what a lot of those defending light-moderate drinking in pregnancy cite, but it's not the only risk with drinking in pregnancy.

It's also been linked as a pp said and provided link about, to mc, birth complications including premature birth and low birth weight and even stillbirth.

It may not affect you, but why take the risk? I don't understand that.

I had an unplanned 3rd pregnancy while mourning the death of my child, so drank pretty heavily until I realised I was pregnant at around 20 weeks (I thought grief and shock had stopped my periods). S Obviously I stopped when I knew I was pregnant & started on the folic acid, but what can you do? Sometimes life just happens and you just keep living it because there is no other option. That amazing baby was not just fine, but is now a truly incredible, amazing, clever, creative, crazy, stroppy teen.

I have found myself having 2 glasses of red or white wine about once or twice a week. I don’t feel good about it! Will this amount really harm the baby?

We don't know, but why take the risk?

I'm presuming this isn't a 125ml glass of 9%wine ? Which is what 'a glass of wine' would have been when I had my dc - this is much more likely to be at least 175ml (but potentially up to 250ml) or 14% wine. That adds up to a lot more units.

Why would you risk it when there is no need, would be my question.

I didn't at all, except for when I didn't realise I was pregnant. I breastfed for a long time too so in total I was 6 years alcohol-free. I quite enjoyed waking up fresh while friends were posting on Facebook about their hangovers! Stayed alcohol free for a while after I stopped BF my second but went back to it. Writing this with a glass of wine in hand :D I say: ignore people who tell you you're a total bitch if you even touch a drop. Getting completely legless is obviously not a good idea but the odd one here and there is ok, I think. Pregnancy is hard, and there are way too many opportunities for mothers to feel guilty.

It may also depend on the specific genetic make up of your baby as some genetic combinations may be more sensitive to alcohol than others. We don't know what epigenetic traits may be triggered by exposure to alcohol in utero. That's why you can't use anecdotes that ' I drank X units of alcohol a week and my child is fine' to justify it being fine for every child.

1-2 units once or twice a week after the first trimester (or more like from 5 months onwards, wasn't that bothered prior but probably had the odd glass/bottle of beer in that time).

I was in France & following the advice at the time - after 7 months I was told to have a glass of red wine with dinner to 'help me relax'! This was 15/16 years ago, I've got no idea what their guidelines there are like these days. I never got drunk, or smoked & my kids are very bright, healthy and completely fine, obviously I only have my own personal experience to go by. I also followed Dr Jack Newmans advice on drinking whilst breastfeeding (he doesn't tell you to do it - he just explains that it's ok in moderation...).

I have a midwife friend who was taught at college that the zero tolerance of alcohol guidelines are there basically because some people are too stupid to be able to follow the 1-2 units guidance so they go too far - it is far easier to say 'have nothing' to everyone and minimise the overall risk.

Is there any scientific basis that anyone is aware of that shows actual damage to a child from following the previous 1-2 units once or twice a week advice (genuine question - not goady I promise!). One I have seen is this (which in summary says - we have no idea...):

blogs.bmj.com/bmjopen/2017/09/11/evidence-for-potential-harms-of-light-drinking-in-pregnancy-surprisingly-limited/

I'd say OP that you shouldn't worry - just be careful on the size of your glasses (ours now hold 250ml - one third of a bottle, so 'two glasses' is actually 2/3 of a bottle - however a 'glass' is theoretically 125ml, which was what I was sticking to when doing my 'one of two' glasses, the units change quite dramatically depending on the size of the glass - again, don't worry but perhaps be aware moving forward..)

Agreed with my GP that I would "reduce the quantity and up the quality"

I was already not a heavy drinker (14 units at most a week, and yes I do know what a unit of alcohol is ), so reducing down from that meant maybe two small glasses over 2 nights a week if the wine was good enough (and a couple of tastes of dh's wine - but he was generally good and didn't open new wines that I didn't know). Very little in the first trimester and nothing at all weeks 8-12. After that, it had to be a really good wine for me to "use up" my tiny allocation.

I did go totally off whisky and even now, 18 years later (and the ds who was in utero is now off at uni ) I can only taste a whisky - which is itself an advance on where I was for the first 10 years, when I went off even the smell of it, before progressing to being able to smell and comment on it, without wanting a sip.

Nothing with first 2, the odd glass with number 3 and the odd glass with this one. I'm due a similar time to you. Odd glass means a small glass once every 6 weeks or so with a meal. I did however get hammered on half a bottle of gin and drink 6 glasses of prosecco in the first 6 weeks. This was an oops baby and I didn't find out til 10 weeks. He is measuring 95th centile so I'm sure its OK. Medical advice given corroborates this. I think the issue is when you get plastered throughout. There is also no benchmark as each woman and baby respond differently. Have a glass if it helps but don't do it and beat yourself up after.

In my first pregnancy, I drank a couple of glasses of wine a couple of times a week from the second trimester (nothing during the first trimester). That child has (mild) autism. Second child I didn’t touch a drop and no autism (although she does have a couple of other congenital issues).

Do I think the drinking caused (or made worse) DS’s autism? I’m not sure... my gut feeling is that autism is genetic. But I know the guilt I have felt ever since was NOT worth it. Which is why I would advise anyone not to drink at all during pregnancy - not because I think occasional drinking does any harm (there isn’t any scientific proof of that as far as I know) but because it’s not worth the agony, if your child is born with any problems, of wondering if you caused it.

Had a very boozy week long residential work training course the week before I realised I was pregnant.

Then had a very small mouthful from a glass of champagne to toast when I got married at 12 weeks, other than that I had nothing once I knew I was pregnant.

Why risk regular drinking, even if only a couple of glasses a week, when the risks arent clear? It's quite sad really that you can't prioritise your baby and is not even born yet.

@TheNavigator, that sounds awful. I’m really sorry. Glad your 3rd child turned out great 😎

Nothing for approximately the first halves of my pregnancies (exception being my third, when I spent the weekend with a friend I rarely see at 11 weeks and had a small glass of wine on both evenings) and after that a small glass every couple of weeks. Every week would have felt too often, to me. IIRC when I had my first (who is now nearly 14), one or two units once or twice a week was the guideline and some advice even said up to 8 units/week was okay.

Alcohol causes cell damage, so no. In animal studies the extent of the damage depends on individual differences in metabolism, so it seems anachronistic to still say that 2 drinks a week or whatever is OK for everybody. People metabolise alcohol and feel its effects very differently. Bearing in mind as well that it hangs around longer for the fetus as it takes longer to clear from the amniotic fluid, which the fetus then drinks.

I never worried about FAS or a FAS spectrum disorder but more subtle learning difficulties/executive functioning problems.

www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/health/pregnancy-drinking-fetal-alcohol.html

Shandies to settle my stomach. A g&t in early labour.

Thank you ilovecheese, yes it was indescribably bad and I would not wish it on anyone. Which is why I am not quick to rush to smug judgement on pregnant women - it is not all tracking cycles and planning the nursery, pregnancy often just happens and women just cope, as they have since the dawn of time. It is truly amazing how resilient mothers and babies can be.

I didn’t, barring a few sips of a cocktail before I knew I was pregnant (felt sick after a couple of sips, thought there was something wrong with it!).

I’m a worrier, and I would have driven myself crazy will guilt and worry if I’d drank. Although in compete honesty, I never fancied a drink while I was pregnant, so it wasn’t an issue.