To ask if you drank alcohol during pregnancy

[Butterflyflower1234]

I'm curious as to people thoughts on alcohol during pregnancy?

I was always of the opinion that I wouldn't touch a single drop of alcohol during pregnancy but now I'm wondering would it be significantly harmful to have say one small glass of wine with dinner every so often (less than once a fortnight).

Had the odd unit at Christmas, weddings etc. Probs no more than 5 over the entire pregnancy both times.
I’m a HCP and have read the evidence - not onboard with this whole ‘none can be deemed safe’ which is of course true for lots of things that we do anyway. Pregnant or not.
Instead of worrying about pregnant women enjoying a Prosecco at a wedding we should be focussing on better diet and moderate weight gain in pregnancy instead.

LittleDragonGirl

Thanks for that. I am fully capable of - and did - reading NHS guidance. In the small amounts we are talking about, there is no evidence of harm. As you can see, this guidance reflects that, as it says “too much”, not “any”. They can’t say “any”, of course, because there is no scientific basis for such a claim.

Less well known fact that alcohol can also cause brain damage in healthy adults and is implicated in alcohol induced alzhimers disease. Honestly blows my mind that alcohol is seen as harmless in regards to physical health. And this is one of the reasons alcohols seem "off" or tend to have more chronic mental health problems and the shifting and changing of personalities, and it is due to where alcohol causes damage in the brain.

synapse.org.au/fact-sheet/alcohol-drug-related-brain-injury/

Due to this I personally wouldn't risk even the smallest amount of alcohol while pregnant unfortunately due to having researched the impacts it can do a adults fully matured brain. But I generally don't drink anyway, so it's not something i really ever thought about, if I'm honest. But i can understand why it may be difficult for people who already drink regularly.

At the end of the day it is your baby. But not being able to give up for just 9 months is indicative of a bigger problem.

I had one small glass of wine at about 6 months and it was the time I really fancied one.
Tbh I had a serious accident at the start of my pregnancy (before I knew I was pregnant) which resulted in 3 broken ribs and a lacerated liver. I had general anaesthetic, CT scans, xrays and every drug under the sun (inc. Morphine) and I felt that if none of that had had any affect on the baby then one small glass of wine surely wasnt going to either

I also dont condemn the occasional glass at events such as Christmas/birthdays/special occasions, but would worry if drinking weekly could truly be classed as moderation. And why the need to drink weekly would be considered more important then the unborn child?

But I grew up with alcoholics, so dont really trust the one hlass a week to not become two or three as people self justify that its "still to small to do any damage". Which I think is quite the risk to take. The issue with research into drug use and pregnancy is that it's very difficult to ascertain for definate if the child with a SLD (or adhd autism or any other form of disability or difficulty) would have still experienced them if the parent had abstained from drug use. And its unethical to purposely ask mothers to use drugs while pregnant so studies cant br managed that way, and final issue with studies into such a sensitive issue is clearance of ethics but also the willingness of mothers to admit to any drug use no matter how minor and whether its ethical to allow mothers to consider some of the potential impact their actions may have inadvertently had on their child due to its potential to cause emotional distress (which without the very highest ethical approval is unethical to do).

LittleDragonGirl

I don’t think you should be condemning anyone. I agree with you about the risks of alcohol consumption overall. But there is no evidence a single small glass weekly will do any harm at all, so condemnation does not seem to be in order to me.

@mantarays

You sure about that?

From my link:

if you look at the 2,550 alcohol-exposed children who received FAS diagnostic evaluations in the WA State FAS clinics over the past 20 years:
a. 1 out of every 7 children diagnosed with full FAS (the most severe outcome of alcohol exposure) had a reported exposure of 1-8 drinks per week.

This is from a leading doctor who specialises in FAS.

But not being able to give up for just 9 months is indicative of a bigger problem.

No one is saying they can’t give up. Just that they don’t see the need to be tee total.

During my first pregnancy, I had around 3 half pints of Guinness over the duration. This pregnancy, I'm yet to drink anything other than Becks Blue which was at Christmas- so no alcohol.

I missed alcohol a lot more the first time round than the second, but after having DD and before I was pregnant again, I never drank much anyway. It wasn't worth the hangover or hassle.

I don't think there's a problem with occasional drinking but I definitely wouldn't want to get into the habit of drinking a little bit quite often.

I don't want to add any unnecessary risk to my pregnancy so I choose not to.
I am 17 weeks with Number Two and there have been times I could've murdered a glass of wine, however there's plenty of time for that later.

@LittleDragonGirl of course a baby cannot process alcohol as well as we can. But if someone drinks a glass of wine their baby is not exposed to a glass of wine, they are exposed to the equivalent of about 1ml (but very very diluted).

I can see why, having grown up around alcoholics you'd worry about one glass turning into several which is obviously not good. But I could quite happily have one very small glass of wine and not have any more. Not everyone has alcoholic tendencies that mean they don't know when to stop.

Not at all.
If you can say that you will just have one why not stop at zero. You cannot be that desperate for one.

If you can say that you will just have one why not stop at zero.

Why does it have to be zero? Why can’t you accept women look at the risk and reach a reasoned decision that one glass of wine is fine?

Giving up drinking for your unborn baby is good practice for giving up other things after they're born, like sleep, or sex

I didn’t drink at all whilst pregnant. I don’t think the occasional drink would harm the baby but I simply didn’t want to take any risks. In some countries, the medical advice is for zero alcohol during pregnancy. I pretended to sip from a glass when toasting at parties and weddings.

If you can say that you will just have one why not stop at zero. You cannot be that desperate for one.

They probably could, but why should they if they have done adequate research to ascertain that there is no risk associated with just one small glass?

No one is saying they can’t give up. Just that they don’t see the need to be tee total.

But that's exactly what they are saying. If they would rather take the risk, regardless how small it is, to have a couple of small glasses a week, then the issue is a inability to give up for 9months. If alcohol is not a fundamental part of someones life, then giving it up for 9months to remove any risk to a unborn child isnt something a person should feel the need to think twice about.

If you can say that you will just have one why not stop at zero. You cannot be that desperate for one.

That’s not really the point. If one has not been demonstrated to be harmful, that’s exactly what many women on this thread said they did and that doesn’t seem, to me, to be anyone else’s business. 🤷🏻‍♀️

No I didn't drink at all. I wanted one now and then but didn't really see the point in one drink and the potential risks weren't worth it.

If alcohol is not a fundamental part of someones life...

But it was a fundamental part of my life. I am fully prepared to admit (and did, above) that my own relationship with alcohol is problematic. But not everyone’s is. There are plenty of people who enjoy one glass of wine and are perfectly happy not to have more, or, if they do fancy more, just don’t have it.

As far as I can remember I did drink lightly throughout all of my PGs. I never got drunk and didn't do it daily but I did have the odd glass of wine at the weekend or if we went out for dinner or something.

All my DC are in their 20s. If I were having my children today I think I'd be much less likely to drink at all.

This again I've seen loads of these threads in the past few weeks

If they would rather take the risk, regardless how small it is, to have a couple of small glasses a week, then the issue is a inability to give up for 9months.

You don’t seem to understand the difference between choosing not to give up because there’s no need and not being able to give up despite wanting to or needing to.

If they would rather take the risk, regardless how small it is, to have a couple of small glasses a week, then the issue is a inability to give up for 9months.

Can you tell me what that risk is? Because as far as I am aware there is NO risk. Not a small risk, literally no risk at all has been shown, ever, from drinking one small glass of wine every now and again. People drinking a tiny amount are not taking a risk.