To want a couple of glasses of wine when pregnant??

[tootidy]

I am nearly 10 weeks pregnant and would like to drink a couple of glasses of wine (per week) as I did when i was pregnant with my other children. The current guidelines are not to drink at all which is different to what it used to be.

Backgammon - according to pps, you should be thinking of your BABY, and not YOURSELF, at all points from conception onwards (actually, from before conception).

So an epidural is really a selfish risk, and therefore no different from a glass of wine. In fact, as there is more evidence to suggest contraindications with an epidural, it's worse than choosing to have a glass of wine.

Suey - they thought Thalidomide was harmless and it wasn't. So, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not take anything while pg even paracetamol...personal choice though

'the baby is fully formed and ready to come out..so....'

so that is why babies born by csection and/or mothers who have been given pentidine can have breathing problems for days and feeding problems that can derail or make breastfeeding problematic due to sluggish/sleepiness.

even though they are full formed.

PS - Puss, I was speed reading your last post (which crossed with my last), and misread 'fully formed' as 'fully informed'...

'Big difference between turning down a glass of wine and turning down an epidural when you're in absolute agony, isn't there?'

Waking up with panic attacks and having them more and more when you're supposed to be at work isn't exactly a fun walk in the park.

I understand the point that's trying to be made, but I still don't think you can compare turning down a drink to turning down pain relief in labour. I found it a piece of piss to not drink for 9 months and totally incomparable to the idea of a drug-free labour.

Expat - yes I agree but having had an em c section myself with DS's heart rate going down rapidly, that effect was the lesser of the two evils compared to him losing oxygen and possibly becoming brain damaged. A c section is certainly not something I would have chosen. Whereas a glass of wine with dinner is something you have control over

Thalidomide a little different I think. A drug made for morning sickness not tested on pg controls. Rather than a drug used for at least decades with no adverse effects. It could be argued that the thalidomide issue led to the 'nothing when pg' blanket rule we have now

Blue -

Don't understand your point expat, are you saying you self medicate for your panic attacks with alcohol? Even if that's the case it's probably not for the majority of pregnant drinkers.

"No. I did not take a single jot of medication when pg with DS - would not even chance it with paracetamol."
Wow Pussinjimmychoos, aren't you sanctimonious? When pregnant I was in hospital due to being in so much pain. I took a lot of paracetamol (and even some codine IIRC) during my pregnancy as I was in agony. The doctors were very strict with me saying that I had to take it. My DS is perfect
I certainly hope you didn't risk eating anything non-organic, doing any cleaning with anything other than an organic lemon skin, or putting on non-organic makeup.

well, i don't know at what point research is deemed as acceptable by you, starlight, but if the RCM are telling me not to drink, then i'm not drinking. i don't need to try and find and then weigh up the evidence myself. i didn't need convincing to avoid a whole host of other things. i certainly didn't faff about trying to establish whether i could have my eggs a bit runny or whatever

suey2, i don't normally feel woozy either, but 9 months of no alcohol made me feel the full effects when i did then drink, and it made me glad i hadn't drunk while pg

"they thought Thalidomide was harmless and it wasn't."

That is exactly why I am wary of all new chemical concoctions and I try to avoid e.g. aspartame. Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, my mother and aunts drank as normal through their pregnancies because nobody suggested it might be a bad idea, in my grandmother's time she was actually criticised by her GP for not drinking enough stout while pregnant! There is nobody with any form of SN in my extended family.

Going back even further I recently went on a tour of the lovely city of York - we were told that in medieval times the water was too dangerous to drink so almost all hydration came in the form of beer. It was the best way they had of purifying their water supplies.

Interesting point Upwind about your mother and aunts drinking "as normal". I do think "normal" drinking has changed quite a lot in the last few decades. My Mother barely drank when she was pregnant with me, not because she was pregnant but just because she barely drank. These days she's a right lush

So, pinata, this research you've kept referring to - you invented it then?

well, yes, a little beer is probably better for the baby than cholera, eh?

Oceana - no, I actually drunk neat bleach rather than clean my loo with it...come on! I did put it was a personal choice not to take medication!

Backgammon - I agree that the binge drinking culture is probably quite new. Nobody is suggesting it would be sensible to do that while pregnant - not that it is ever really a good idea.

but, piñata, the advice changed half way through my pg. What was I to do? Spend the second half fretting, or look at why they changed it? As we all know, the advice did not change because of any new research.
BTW I did research runny eggs and rare meat etc, and decided they were not worth the risk. Shellfish I previously mentioned.

if you read the thread, Backgammon, you'll see a post of mine referring to a time when i was pregnant with DD2, was prescribed tranqs for panic attacks/insomnia.

instead had a glass of wine.

chilled out and got some sleep without a panic attack and was much less stressed for it.

'but if the RCM are telling me not to drink, then i'm not drinking. '

even though they admit they made up the new recommendation because of the belief that British women don't know how to drink in moderation.

bbaaaaaa! bbaaaaaa!

'I found it a piece of piss to not drink for 9 months and totally incomparable to the idea of a drug-free labour. '

Good for you!

I had a drug free labour and delivery - even G&A makes me sick but enjoyed the odd glass of wine whilst pregnant with DD1.

absolutely upwind. Totally agree.

I have read the thread expat - but are you seriously suggesting that most pregnant drinkers have a reason for drinking that's as "valid" as yours? My point is that for most women turning down a glass of wine would be easier than turning down drugs in labour. I'm not even getting into whether they should turn one down, just saying it's generally not that hard to do, so why compare the two?

'but are you seriously suggesting that most pregnant drinkers have a reason for drinking that's as "valid" as yours? My point is that for most women turning down a glass of wine would be easier than turning down drugs in labour. I'm not even getting into whether they should turn one down, just saying it's generally not that hard to do, so why compare the two? '

did I ever say that? um, no.

and do you know most women?

there's certainly a large number of them on here that turned down or turn down drug pain relief in labour.

why compare the two?

because drugs in labour affect the foetus, too.

even more so than a glass of wine or two.

people here are comparing the odd glass of wine to Class A drugs and cigarette smoking, after all.