To drink wine when pregnant (occasionally?)

[RedRoses718]

AIBU to have the odd glass of wine when pregnant?

There’s an interesting bmj blog post reviewing different articles and data around drinking in pregnancy.

Aren’t the guidelines to avoid all alcohol ‘just in case’?

Can't you just go without the wine? Plenty of alcohol free alternatives which taste more or less the same to be honest.

I had a few glasses of wine here and there during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of both pregnancies as did all my friends and we were very relaxed about it. However during the second one, a routine growth scan at 36 weeks showed potential issues and I was furious with myself for having any at all as straight away I knew if there was something wrong, I wouldn't forgive myself even if it was proven to be nothing to do with wine. Dd2 was born last week, thankfully healthy, but it did make me stop and think and if I am lucky enough to have another baby I won't be drinking!

Guidelines are to avoid all alcohol because pregnant women can’t be trusted to stop after one drink / recognise the difference between 2 units and 8. (1st trimester is different and probably best to abstain completely).
No evidence or experts suggest that a couple of units a couple of times a week after 12 weeks carries any risk, but advising women it’s safe potentially carries risk because lots of people (pregnant or not) would drink more, hence the current UK guidelines.
Lots of women either go off drink anyway or recognise they might not stop after a small drink, but don’t let that stop you enjoying a small glass of wine or cheeky half pint if you’re happy to just have one.

All the people saying "yes have a few, I did and it's fine" are just like people saying "I don't use a car seat for my child and they are fine" or "I didn't give my child MMR and they were fine".
It doesn't mean it's ok.

I have a friend who has had to deal (professionally) with children with foetal alcohol syndrome. It does not only affect heavy drinkers - although it's less likely it can be caused by small amounts of alcohol. I honestly don't see why you would want to take that risk.

The downside of the current guidelines is that they don’t seem to change the behaviour of women who drink enough to actually cause harm, and can cause unwarranted stress / guilt which can be damaging to Mum and potentially baby.

All the people saying "yes have a few, I did and it's fine" are just like people saying "I don't use a car seat for my child and they are fine" or "I didn't give my child MMR and they were fine".
It doesn't mean it's ok.

They’re not. Those things come with a demonstrable risk.

Amazing that the Human race has survived this long - if only all this 'advice/knowledge was available centuries ago then the Human race would have died out.

I wonder how the pregnant woman survived when there was only alcohol to drink because the water was unfit to drink? Mead and wine were the chosen drinks of the day.

I didn't; it's only 9 months and for me not worth the risk.

I had a couple of glasses of fizz in my first pregnancy and a small glass of wine every so often in my second (both after 20 weeks or so). Probably less than a bottle throughout the pregnancy.

Incidentally, my Italian friends were advised by their GP to start drinking the odd beer to relax during their pregnancies so I took that as my lead , but didn't follow the 'and a fag' part!!!

Yes of course it’s fine to have the odd glass here and there.
As long as it isn’t a common occurrence and as long as you don’t get drunk!

The reason why the NHS says no to alcohol entirely is because every woman has a metabolises alcohol differently; and so even one glass of booze a week could cause fetal alcohol syndrome in some women. Note that fetal alcohol syndrome often just presents as autistic / adhd traits and so there is some evidence to suggest it’s underdiagnosed as a whole.

The reason why the NHS says no to alcohol entirely is because every woman has a metabolises alcohol differently; and so even one glass of booze a week could cause fetal alcohol syndrome in some women. Note that fetal alcohol syndrome often just presents as autistic / adhd traits and so there is some evidence to suggest it’s underdiagnosed as a whole.

Evidence, please? For the fact that one glass a week can cause the condition in some children?

I personally don’t care what you do when pregnant but if god forbid anything was wrong (even if unrelated to alcohol) I couldn’t handle the guilt

Also, can we stop with the “It’s 9 months hmm”

A. It’s 10
It’s 9 ,are you one of those people who’s thinks there are four weeks in a month? Oh dear
Also it’s less than nine months from a positive test so even less time to put your baby first.

It’s 9 ,are you one of those people who’s thinks there are four weeks in a month? Oh dear smile
Also it’s less than nine months from a positive test so even less time to put your baby first.

Many women will be pregnant for up to 10 months: 42 weeks.

Anyway, as I said, the advice is also not to drink while trying to conceive, isn’t it?

Not this again. It's absolutely fine to have the very occasional glass of wine whilst pregnant.

And I'd also like to see evidence for that frankly bollocks claim about one glass of wine potentially causing fetal alcohol syndrome.

The evidence, advice and guidelines are so ambiguous. Can anyone categorically state that drinking a glass or 2 of wine a week will definitely not cause any ill effects?

Is it really worth it?

Not drinking alcohol at all is a precautionary measure.

Drinking some alcohol means you accept that there’s a risk - albeit from lack of evidence etc - but a risk nonetheless- that it may impact on your unborn baby.

The science hasn’t caught up yet.

This isn’t about guilt tripping mothers to be.

It’s about them accepting that there might be a risk, no one actually knows that drinking any amount of alcohol is completely risk free - no one knows this.

But no need to get defensive when people point it out.

I had the odd small glass/low alcohol cider after the first trimester, maybe 1 drink every 6 weeks ish

Can anyone categorically state that drinking a glass or 2 of wine a week will definitely not cause any ill effects?

This is false reasoning. Can anyone categorically state that eating four bananas a week will definitely not cause any ill effects?

Decisions we make can be based on scaremongering and “what if” scenarios, but I would simply argue that that makes life very stressful.

Since you ask yes I do think it’s a bit unreasonable. Being a Mum starts the minute you find out your pregnant imo. You wouldn’t give a new born alcohol so why it’s ok to drink alcohol when pregnant. If you saw a woman with a pregnant tummy I bet most would judge? Yes somehow wine is ok.

Why is drinking so important? It’s not hard to give it up for the pregnancy.

I’ve had 3 pregnancies and no I didn’t drink but then my parents adopted my sister and she had alcohol syndrome and still suffers the effects now as an adult. I admit this probably clouds my view

I had a couple of small glasses of wine here and there - one at Christmas, glass of fizz to celebrate a friend's wedding, toast a big successful work event, all in the 2nd and 3rd trimester.

I was low risk, healthy weight, ate well, reduced caffeine, exercised etc. I did eat the wrong sort of cheese on occasion and never washed any fruit or veg!

I would personally just avoid it all together don't feel the need to have it. There may not be enough evidence to back it up on what can harm baby/ how much etc but there is nothing saying it is fine to have alcohol either.. best just to avoid.

I had 3 glasses of wine while pregnant and some sips of beer 9as in real ale.) The wine glasses were old glasses from the 1970s and I had the wine and beer with meals.

@Sammi38 they don't know the threshold for foetal alcohol syndrome but the issue is what one person says is a "glass of wine" is smaller/bigger than what another person so the safest generic advice is not to drink at all. Also wine is stronger than it was in the 1990s. Beer on the other hand has got weaker again.