To have one small glass of red wine at 38 weeks pregnant?

[baby2c]

I’m not a drinker at all but DH gets a bottle of red once or twice a month and tonight I really fancy just a very small glass, I’m a weirdo (according to DH) who likes ice in red wine on the rare occasion I have it. DH is only having one glass just in case I was to go into labour and he had to drive to hospital. So I was thinking of having a tiny amount with some ice and enjoying sipping it whilst watching tv in my pjs however I’m not sure if this is totally out of order or reasonable? Would you? Or did you? I haven’t touched alcohol at all since finding out I am pregnant at 4 weeks.

What decade was this?

Enjoy the thimble-the only bit I am judging is ice with malbec 😂

You'll be fine. Have a wee one if you want.

She isn’t forcing her baby to consume alcohol.

A single glass of wine is a tiny amount of alcohol, then processed by OP’s liver and present in very tiny amounts in her blood stream.

She’s not forcing her baby to consume alcohol.

Not comparable at all

@StandFirm it’s clear you’re not medical and that you are also not understanding foetal physiology. So how it works is the maternal liver filters all medicines etc and functions as normal albeit with a third more circulating volume and processes all the mother consumes including alcohol. What doesn’t happen is that the alcohol via shared bloodstream crosses the placenta and remains in the foetus. It continues to circulate around both and is processed through the maternal liver. The placenta is not there to act as another liver. So there will be a short term rise in foetal ABV along with maternal ABV as it is the same. Then it reduces as is processed by the maternal liver. You will not have any organ ill effect due to gestation. And unlikely even with a younger gestation at those amounts. Think of the no. of women who drink moderately while in early pregnancy unknowingly. Anyway opiates and other meds can be prescribed while pregnant and it all is circulating in foetus and processed by the mother.

So this is what made me never do it during pregnancy or breastfeeding - the risk is ‘minimal’ but not ‘non-existent’? If it were non-existent then okay, but minimal to me wouldn’t mean there is a chance of risk, and why chance it for a drink? This is just my feelings on my own pregnancies, no judgement at all. X

I went to the pub round the corner from the hospital during my induction in 2015. I don't remember what I drank but quite possibly a small glass of something alcoholic. I'm not scared of alcohol like some posters.

Two years ago.

And all the doctors I know that have discussed it with, have said a glass of wine occasionally is fine.

Lots of alcohol in pregnancy is not a good thing - a very occasional glass of wine isn’t going to affect your baby though. OP isn’t doing something really dangerous.

When i was a baby it was commonplace to put a little bit of brandy in a baby’s bottle to stop it crying, especially when it was teething. I don’t think it did me any harm 😆

How do you think the baby receives nutrition and grows? Nutrients (and alcohol, and drugs) pass via the placenta. It doesn’t get to pick and choose what it consumes.

Yes I had 2 glasses a week, no problem. I wouldn't hesitate.

The comment.

If anything would happen to the baby, been born with any condition, realistically glass of wine wouldnt be the reason but mums guilt would eat you regardless so no. I wouldn’t

The comment what? What’s not accurate? Shit or get off the pot.

Yes the food the mother consumes will impact her bloodstream.

Where you are wrong is that the impact of a single glass of wine is a big deal, and is akin to ‘forcing it to consume alcohol’ - which it patently isn’t.

No amount of alcohol is safe (and that’s whether pregnant or not) according to latest research.

if you can’t control yourself for a couple of weeks when can you?! I find it so odd that people can’t manage to avoid literal poison for 9 months (and as a non drinker I don’t understand why anybody ever drinks it anyway!)

The only reason that is said is because it’s not ethical to conduct studies on pregnant women.

What risks are you talking about?

There are loads of things you will have done during pregnancy that could present some small, minimal, risk to your unborn baby. Driving in cars, crossing roads, cycling. inhaling car fumes in the city and fumes from log burners. Eating out in restaurants and takeaways. Going to farms, having pets. Babies are pretty resilient things. I think the human race would have died out long ago if we needed to eliminate all risk in order to have a healthy baby.

Ah but that’s the thing - it’s not according to research.

They won’t do the research because it’s unethical.

There is no evidence having the odd glass of wine over a full pregnancy has any impact on your baby. Cases of FAS are typically in babies of alcoholic mothers.

I wouldn't.

My mum was told to drink stout when pregnant with me

What are the risks?

Okay but don’t we make choices to prevent harm to the baby? I stopped medication when I was pregnant because there wasn’t enough research to state it was okay. You don’t go to farms with certain animals etc. there are little things you do to try and prevent harm, right? Isn’t this just one of those things?

ETA - as I say, live and let live, I just feel like if a risk is minimal then there is a risk so it’s not worth chancing it. There are lots of things we do to try and help baby grow healthily, this is just another one for me.