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?

**Highlights
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Prenatal alcohol use is associated with offspring mental health problems.

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There is disparity in the measurement of internalising disorders across studies.

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Future studies should utilise methods that allow stronger causal evidence.

**associated is not the same as causal

Have a look at the chart. There is no established safe limit. Why take the risk?

No I didn’t really feel like it either -bad heartburn and always tired

Yes. First one I didnt know I was pregnant until around ten weeks! And I'd gone on holiday and was drinking... luckily I didnt drink that much because I felt really sick.. eventually realised I might be pregnant (had been on contraception which must have failed)
Second time I drank but very little and in the second and third trimester. Had a glass of wine on my birthday and on new years eve and half a pint of cider once during summer.

I'm very much of the opinion that a single measure of alcohol once or twice during pregnancy wouldn't do any harm but I wouldn't have had more than that.
However I didn't get to drink at all while I was pregnant as I just couldn't face alcohol even before I knew I was pregnant !

If you can't put your child's health first for 9 months then you're not ready to be a parent imo.

i dated someone who thought he had fetal alcohol syndrome. im not sure he did but his belief affected his entire life. my advice would be tp put your child first.

With DS1 I drank absolutely no alcohol. I had no idea I was roughly three weeks pregnant with DS2 when I had two glasses of wine at my brother's wedding. I panicked when I found out I was pregnant and I'd had alcohol, but my doctor assured me it was fine. But I never drank again while pregnant or BF. Didn't want to take any chances.

Disagree with the 'it's only 9 months so take zero risks' line.

Medical advice should be evidence based. Pregnant women shouldn't be told to live wrapped in cotton wool 'just in case'.

The zero alcohol rule is based on women not being trusted to stick to one drink. It creates anxiety unnecessarily in women who think one sip will have consequences for their baby. FASD is caused by sustained heavy drinking, not the odd slip.

I always have a mouthful of DH's beer and I also have a half pint or glass of wine about once a fortnight. Steered clear completely in first trimester.

To give some context, in 70s/80s my mother was told to have a pint of stout a day for the iron while pregnant.

The zero alcohol rule is based on women not being trusted to stick to one drink.

So, when should women be told “it’s ok to drink”, do you think? It’s known that individual genetics (both in women and their fetuses) will affect how quickly women metabolise alcohol. It’s also known that alcohol is neurotoxic and causes cellular damage at low levels in animals (lots of zebra fish and mouse studies) and that humans can have neurocognitive and learning difficulties/ADHD like symptoms without obvious FAS

Fetal brain development occurs throughout pregnancy (and beyond) not just in the first trimester.

When and how much do you think it’s ok for a fetus to be exposed to a known teratogen? You obviously disagree that there’s no known safe exposure level. Is one drink a week ok for all women, or just fast metabolisers of alcohol or maybe those who process it slower. If 10 weeks isn’t a good time, can you be assured that 27 weeks is ok?

Mn isn’t the place to ask this 😂 people are either raging alcoholics or smell a glass of wine once a year..
I’m laughing at the pps who say they don’t drink even when they’re not pregnant
Surely this question doesn’t apply to you then? Batshit

@OkPedro haha I know! It's so bizarre!

We do not know how much alcohol is safe, for whom, or at what point during pregnancy.

Ethically we can't do a double-blind study to examine the effects of alcohol. The most we can do is study women who did drink while pregnant and look at the effects. It's called a retrospective cohort study.

Realistically, if you can't go 9 months without having a drink, that suggests to me that you may have a problem with alcohol. If you need alcohol, that's usually an indication that there is a problem.

I don't because the idea makes me want to throw up. Sooo sick ☹️

I had a small glass of wine once a week on a Friday as that was fine according to the advice at the time. I had none when I was pregnant with my second as the advice has changed to zero alcohol.

36 weeks and I have had the odd glass of red or Prosecco on occasion.
I wouldn't do it it weekly but the NHS website says 1-2 units once or twice a week won't harm the baby.
You'd have to be drinking a lot more than that to harm baby.
Stress harms baby more!

Looking back I was diagnosed morphine and tramadol when pregnant . Compared to that a glass of white wine isn’t shit

I did, a glass a week. I lived outside of the U.K. when I was pregnant and alcohol wasn't on the banned list. I queried it and the gynae said it wasn't an issue as long as I drank with a meal (I.e. the expected drinking culture where I lived) and didn't binge drink like is common in the U.K.
They were far more concerned about the risk from dried meats and soft cheeses.

Only pregnant women are held to some decree that when pregnant they have to automatically stop every single vice

And .... if they struggle even an iota they have a ‘problem’ and shouldn’t have children !!!!

Most of us are old enough and ugly enough to know the difference between a tipple and a FAS inducing binge

Looking back I was diagnosed morphine and tramadol when pregnant . Compared to that a glass of white wine isn’t shit

But morphine and tramadol aren’t teratogens, they don’t damage fetal cells and cause fetal malformations. Alcohol does. Alcohol is socially acceptable and fun and associated with relaxing for many people but it’s complete shit for fetuses. Hence all the fuss.

I wouldn't worry yourself OP as it's done now and highly unlikely you've harmed your baby.
With my first I had a small glass of wine once a week after the first trimester. He is absolutely fine and if anything was actually an early developer.
I'm 39 weeks with my second and this time I've only had a couple of glasses throughout my whole pregnancy. This is because I've been drinking the alcohol free gin or alcohol free sparkling wine if I've fancied a glass. It honestly tastes much better these days.
I felt guilty that perhaps I'd harmed my baby in the first pregnancy due to my very low alcohol intake - I hadn't.
This time I am worried I've harmed my baby as I've been quite stressed at work and getting PhD submitted.
Honestly, please try to relax and not worry. There will always be something to worry about.
I'm not trying to minimise the awful affects of alcohol abuse during pregnancy but to put into context how much things have changed, my MIL stopped in at her SIL's (a nurse) on her way to the labour ward and was told she had a while yet so she should stay for a cigarette and a Bacardi and coke. My DH is a very intelligent and successful man! The key word here is abuse.

Not intentionally.

I got very drunk on a Saturday night and then found out I was pregnant on the Thursday after. I never drunk alcohol whilst pregnant or breastfeeding.

None. I know it was probably safe to have a small amount but I thought if something happened to the baby I’d always wonder if the alcohol had caused it. I’m not a big drinker anyway so didn’t really miss it

The occasional glass, maybe once a month at most. That has been for all of my four pregnancies.

Drinking alcohol while breastfeeding is demonstrably fine, its not the same as during pregnancy at all!

Absolutely not. I went teetotal once we started TTC so I wasn’t drinking if we did fall pregnant. There’s no evidence to suggest a small amount is safe (equally no evidence to suggest a small amount is harmful) so on balance given that we have no idea either way (but we know more alcohol IS dangerous) i’m going with none whatsoever.