To drink wine when pregnant (occasionally?)

[RedRoses718]

AIBU to have the odd glass of wine when pregnant?

I did, kids normal!

The odd glass is most likely fine.
Would I? No. It's not worth it.

Meh
Yanbu

I had a glass of champagne 3 times during my pregnancy (different occasions) at the end of the pregnancy. One a few days before I was due. I was fine with this and didn't consider it a risk. It's a personal decision

I expected nothing less to be honest OP.

MN is very odd about drinking. Most people only have thimble every other Christmas and this is the non pregnant posters

I didn't drink at all with DC1, drank a little in my last month with DC2 and DC3 (they are both January born so I had a glass at Xmas dinner, and a glass of champers on NYE)

I think a glass of wine every now and then in trimester 2 /3 is very different to a bottle of vodka a week from the moment you piss on a stick.

Why do you want to, OP? It’s a metabolic poison. Surely your baby is worth not poisoning yourself for a mere 9 months out of your life?
If you have an addiction to alcohol, you can access help via your GP.

Good grief.

OP, the occasional glass is absolutely fine. I also found I missed it less if I knew I could have a small glass every so often - it stopped seeming like forbidden fruit and half the time I didn't bother to finish the glass.

You don't need to be 'addicted' to alcohol (as some nutjobs appear to think) to enjoy a glass of wine occasionally and to miss it when it's suddenly banned. Just be sensible and enjoy the looks of horror from the sanctimonious puritans around you.

Whoops, bold fail.

There are no 'facts' that's the problem! We don't know how much or even exactly how, alcohol causes damage to the baby.

Some alcoholics will have normal, healthy children. Others will have a few glasses and the child is born with FAS.

Also, there are women who get pregnant who may lack the education or even the mental energy due to mental health problems, domestic abuse or a chaotic life, to do all this research. Some women are not going to hunt down the relevant papers in the BMJ. However, they may well end up getting drunk regularly because their midwife told them a small amount was ok. To some people, a 'small amount' is three cans of cider as opposed to a litre of vodka.

Yes - as women of my age all did - in moderation of course. We were also recommended by doctors to drink guiness or stout which I could never stomach. Light drinking has never been shown to be dangerous to a foetus. Heavy drinking should be a complete no no but that is completely obvious.

Howl at @Babdoc, overreacting much? I'm currently about 5 weeks with my second pregnancy, and if I feel like I fancy a small glass of wine (probably after 12 weeks) then l'll have one, didn't fancy it with my first. There's a fine line between being sensible and scaremongering, I haven't read Expecting Better and may buy it, but until then I will stick to trusting that I'm a sensible adult who can judge risks

www.bundoo.com/articles/response-to-expecting-better/

Expected better is a good book. I read it while pregnant. I then went looking for responses to it.

I still wouldn't drink while pregnant.

@essex42

Women smoked while pregnant until recently too, it's no recommendation.

I did on a few occasions and it was fine. Everyone I know also did. One small glass will not hurt the baby!

I would personally avoid it all together but I don't begrudge any woman a glass or so during pregnancy. It's your body, after all.

That Dr's response is fair enough, and she is completely correct that communication should be better with patients. However, she doesn't seem to address the issue that a PP made about the panic and anxiety blanket advice such as 'you should not do this as it will definitely cause damage to your unborn child' (not just alcohol, other things too) causes to women who find themselves pregnant unexpectedly. You see it time and time again in the pregnancy boards on MN. That's not helpful to anyone's mental health!

The BPAS are currently doing a survey (it's linked in the various becoming a parent pages on MN) asking women for feedback on the way they were given information and advice. Quite relevant to this discussion I think.

Personal choice, and needs to be weighed up with all the other factors that could be influencing your pregnancy, and what you enjoy / like as a treat.

The information I had from the midwife said no more than 1-2 units, 1-2 times a week so I'm sticking to that.

Didn't fancy it at all until week 16 but will have the above (with food and slowly) and not feel guilty. I have a healthy BMI, am exercising and eating healthily. Everything low risk so I'm comfortable with my choice. As a side note I'm friends with a couple of midwives and they are on the upper side of the advice above for sure.

Will probably get bashed for this but I drank quite a lot of wine before I fell pregnant so I'm confident in my livers ability to process 125ml of wine over the course of an hour - not the same as giving it straight to the baby as far as I see it.

Drink if you want to. But do it in the full knowledge that the alcohol will pass through to your baby. That's a fact.
So whatever stage of development your baby is at the alcohol WILL affect the baby.
Probably this effect will be microscopically small - they and you will never know the effect. The more the mother drinks the greater the effect. Those of us who know children with FASD live with those effects.

MN is very odd about drinking. Most people only have thimble every other Christmas

Bullshit

There is no amount of alcohol that is known to be safe. Don't do it.

There is no amount of alcohol that is known to be safe. Don't do it.

There is no amount of anything that is known to be safe.

I did. There’s no evidence it’s harmful and I like wine.

The answer is no. Studies have been done now where it has been proven that alcohol in pregnancy has a long term affect on your child and has shown up in adulthood. It really is not worth the risk and there are plenty of lovely alcohol free drinks on the market nowadays.
I recommend Nosecco 'prosecco' , alcohol free Koppaberg(mixed fruit and strawberry & lime) Becks blue Beer.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/alcohol-medicines-drugs-pregnant/?tabname=im-pregnant

if talking about a small glass say a couple of times a week, completely fine.

Also recommend “Expecting Better” by Emily Oster for a balanced view of the actual evidence
In summary: if it's a glass, you're fine. Yoire probably fine with more but it's probably not worth the risk for more.
My opinion: I did with DD1. Not with DD2. Just because I didn't feel like it.
YANBU but some people on here are...