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.

i had untreated AND in my pregnancy, TC. i still wonder about hte effect that might have had on DD1.

also, she had her baby jabs when the DPT still had mercury in it.

another thing i feel guilt about.

it never ends.

like i said, i got pissed on voddy about a fortnight after conception. wasn't even late with my period yet, but then just completely went off booze until way into the 3rd trimester. had a couple of pints of Guinness whilst out and made myself a pina colada a couple of days before birth as i'd be craving it like no tomorrow.

but truly, i don't think that was it.

if anything that could have affected her, those fucking jabs stick with me the most.

KVC, you're contradicting yourself. How can you say a diagnosis of ADHD or dyslexia is completely irrelevant to a diagnosis of FAS/FASD when the two of them are possible functions of FAS/FASD? And then you go on to say that children with FAS/FASD are treated by the same SN teams that treat ADHD and dyslexia and similar disorders. Okay, then what does one stand to gain when they get a diagnosis of ADHD or the like by saying, 'Oh, I had the odd glass of wine in pregnancy'? Yes, must be FAS/FASD then. .

People whose contact with such children has been mostly through social services are dealing with kids whose parents were alcoholics or heavy users of alcohol, for the most part.

If I told our comm paed tomorrow, 'Oh, I had a few pints and a pina colada whilst in my 3rd trimester with DD1,' or 'I got pissed on voddy two days before my period was due, do you think that's the cause of her dyspraxia?' I can guarantee the answer won't be, 'Yes. In fact, it's probably FASD.'

The fact is, we'll never know, but given the strong history of it on her father's side of the family, an educated guess can be made with far more certainty than a few pints or a mixed drink can give.

Thank you KVC.

I would bet my last penny they were heavy drinkers though.

Haven't read whole thread at all, hello notcitrus! But I did have about half a glass of pear cider the other night (am 8.5 months pg) and it was so so so so delicious.....

I've just avoided alcohol since I knew I was pg because it's so much easier if I've forgotten how lovely it tastes!

I think the advice to have no alcohol is good in as much as it's much harder to say no to a 2nd glass than the first unless you have a will of iron!

Why risk it? Isn't the health of your baby enough to make you want to abstain?

gm - from what I've read there is'nt really an issue with drinking in moderation and infact there have been studies supporting alchol in moderation in pregnancy as can have benefical effects.

The number of children worldwide proven without doubt to have developed FAS from a couple of glasses of wine is currently zero.

It's quite breathtakingly naive to assume that an alcoholic woman who knows that drinking in pregnancy is risky is going to go around happily admitting that she drank like a fish all the way through.

What's she going to say instead? "Oh nooo, not me. I hardly drank at all. Maybe a couple of glasses of wine at the most."

You can easily "prove" that moderate drinking in pregnancy is dangerous by asking mothers of children with FAS/FASD how much they drank in pregnancy and dutifully writing down their answers of "Maybe a couple of glasses of wine at the most".

However the results of your study would tell you very little about the effects of alcohol on fetuses....and quite a lot about the power of alcoholic denial.

i'm 22 weeks and although i didn't drink any during the first trimester, mainly due to the smell being a huge turn-off, i do now enjoy a small glass of wine or glass of beer with my dinner. i always have a few days in between as well. i eat very well and healthy, exercise regularly and drink plenty of water. my midwife and doctor say it is just fine to enjoy a glass with dinner. you are more likely to have an unhealthy baby by eating processed and fast food daily (which most people do) than the occasional glass of wine.

i don't know about the rest of the western world, but there is documented links to the rise of autism and adhd in Canada when they increased the mercury level in the vaccinations.

During my pregnancy I had one glass of champagne when DH got promoted and maybe another 3 glasses in total. My obstetrician told me that while it's not recommended, there's no evidence that one glass a week does any harm at all, so I wasn't personally worried about drinking, but I suffered badly from hyperemesis so couldn't face it till I was about 7 months.

Also, the looks you get from people if you have a glass of wine in a restaurant while pregnant are intensely disapproving!

Both my obstetricians said that the odd glass of wine is absolutely fine. In fact, one said that he recommends a small glass of red with dinner to his ladies! There is a difference between the odd glass of wine and guzzling bottles. Please. The 'guidelines' are so ridiculous. We aren't allowed to have soft cheese, runny eggs, cured meats, any medium rare cooked meats, peanuts, any alcohol...the list is endless. What about all the pesticides covering all of our food? What about the chemicals in our cleaning products, in our shampoos, our deoderants, our cosmetics? What about the radiation from our microwaves, our TVs, our mobile phones, our laptops? Relax and enjoy your odd glass of wine! (And if it's red it's good for your heart as well )

the peanuts thing isn't on my list here in Canada.... thank the peanut gods. i love peanut butter. although i have been eating cured meats, i am wary of where they are coming from, ie: not processed food company's. we have a nation wide listeria outbreak going on right now actually from maple leaf meats. in Canada as well, all our cheeses need to be pasteurized so i can eat soft cheeses as well. i agree about all the pesticides etc on and in food. you can't freak out every time you feel to have something. everything in moderation but try to change your cleaning products to enviro-friendly. for your health. i read an article about the rise of lung cancer and respiratory problems in women possibly due to cleaning products.

From finding out (at 4 weeks) until a week after the birth I didnt drink a thing.

This was my choice rather than because guidelines told me anything, its your choice.

I am someone who finds that drinking (even a glass or two) makes me feel quite poorly so didnt want to take the risk of being sick etc. Am such a light weight!

I think in moderation, there is disagreement about whether its ok or not anyway. I would imagine that most people do.

Sorry my brain is on go slow. I obviously drank water and other non alcoholic drinks !

I think it's indicative of the drinking culture in this country that we are told to stop all togther because some people here have forgotten how to have one small glass of wine with dinner. Instead they mahoosive glasses (250ml) as standard.

YANBU - there is no evidence to suggest it would do you any harm. I am much more suspicious of all the chemicals we are exposed to!

I realised last night the pringles I've been indulging in since the start of my pregnancy have MSG. I bet they can't be sure that is safe either, and given that people often won't know if they've been eating it in restaurants, takeaways, processed foods etc it would be difficult to study its effects.

As a mother who had a couple with DS1 and he was prefectly healthy - then went on to not drink with DS2 who was stillborn. I, personally, think its OK to have a glass or two a week while pregnant. After speaking to my consultant about this only last week she was in agreement that it is prefectly fine to have a glass or two as long as you are not binge drinking - which is good for me since I get married this Saturday and would really love a glass of bubbly!

This topic has been debated a lot in the past, and is usually dominated by people who want to have a few drinks, and set about rubbishing science to justify their behaviour.

At the end of the day it's your decision.

But as far as I'm concerned, even if the risk of foetal alcohol syndrome was only 1 in 1,000,000, I would prefer not to take the risk. Foetal development and childbirth is fraught with potential complications as it is - I would hate to feel that I may have possibly contributed to it if a problem occurred.

Can I just add that in the 1950s, when the first suggestions were being made that smoking might damage health, the research was dismissed in much the same way that people on this thread are dismissing alcohol research. And we all know how that story ended.

It's a gamble. You may win, you may lose.

RachaelG - so far as I can see nobody saying a glass or two of wine should be okay is "dismissing alcohol research". Quite the opposite. If you actually examine the research that has been carried out, it is the natural conclusion.

I think that aspartame, MSG, fumes from motor vehicles etc have potential risks that have not yet been well quantified. How do I go about avoiding those things when I don't always have an opportunity to check the label? I live in a city and the air is polluted - should I be beating myself up about that? I work and sometimes it is stressful, but I can't afford to stop though research has shown that maternal stess is harmfull. Like most other pregnant women I use the roads and am exposed to traffic fumes - does that increase my risks by more than 1 in 1,000,000? I would not be surprised if it did.

I was more concerned about coffee. Caffeine seems to have such an effect on the body, I can't see why women are 'allowed' so much of the stuff day to day. Something like 3cups a day of medium strength......

Well, that seems like a lot of a substance that speeds up your heart beat etc....

Surely a glass of wine twice a week is far less dangerous??

RachelG - people are not 'rubbishing the science', but they are aware that there isn't a medical consensus on this issue and that affects their perception of the risks of drinking in pregnancy.

Anyway - lets put this issue of risk in perspective. While there isn't a medical consensus on the risks associated with moderate alcohol intake in pregnancy, there is pretty much a medical consensus that six months of EXCLUSIVE breastfeeding is optimal for babies and that mixed feeding or artificial feeding of babies is linked to higher rates of diabetes, of SIDS, of hospitalisation in the first six months of life, and for preterm babies - death and serious morbidity from NEC. Do you think women who choose not to breastfeed should be told 'you are taking an unreasonable risk with your baby's health'? How can you justify your stance on alcohol if you aren't consistent when it comes to the other risks we take in relation to our babies' health?

I think being a mum today is so hard. This sense that we can, and should eliminate all risk from our children's lives. I think it's damaging to us and our children.