One glass of wine per night......

[Flum]

.....anyone know what dreadful things this can do to an unborn foetus. I think I need to be scared into stopping. When it gets to 7pm and dd in bed I can't help it I'm drawn to the Merlot....

I can't get to the bottom of what the risks are. Not an alcoholic so don't think FAS is a risk but am I wrong.

8wks preggers.

Pregnancy and Unborn Babies

Drinking during pregnancy significantly increases the chance of delivering a baby with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, small head, possible brain damage, abnormal facial features, poor muscle tone, speech and sleep disorders and retarded growth and development.

Prenatal or postnatal growth retardation - height and weight below the 10th percentile for age or gestational age)
2.

Central Nervous System (CNS) dysfunction - any neurological abnormality, developmental delay or intellectual impairment
3.

Characteristic cranio-facial abnormalities including at least two of the following

bullet

Microencephaly - head circumference below the 3rd percentile
bullet

Microphthalmia or short palpebral fissures
bullet

Poorly developed filtrum, thin upper lip and flattening of the maxillary area

FOETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS

According to the research society on alcoholism, a diagnosis of Foetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) is used when a child shows two of the criteria 1-3.

OTHER DEFECTS

Other effects are sometimes seen such as joint anomalies, altered palmer crease patterns, cleft palate, strabismus, minor ear anomalies, internal organ anomalies, hernia, neurological dysfunctions, muscular hypotonia, cerebral convulsions, renal anomalies, cardiac defects, psychomotor developmental delay, hyperactivity, cerebral palsy, ataxia and tremor.

NVISIBLE EFFECTS

Dr Ann Streissgath, leading US researcher believes FAS and FAE are only the tip of the iceberg and she maintains that there are many children who exhibit no facial abnormalities but have more subtle damage.

She studied 500 women who either had two drinks per day or 'binged' occasionally (up to five drinks on one occasion) during pregnancy and found or all of the following:

At Birth - lighter in weight, more jittery and more tremulous than babies whose mothers had been completely abstinent. They exhibited difficulties with habituation, took longer to suck, had a weaker suck, disrupted sleep patterns, a level of arousal, unusual body orientation, abnormal reflexes, hypotonia and excessive mouthing.

At 8 months - disrupted sleep, poor balance and motor control, longer response times, reduced attention, visual recognition and memory, slower mental development and reduced verbal comprehension.

At 7 years - learning problems, lack of classroom co-operation, lack of sustained attention, poor retention of information, poor comprehension of words, impulsiveness, less evidence of tactfulness, reduced levels of word recall and organisational skills.

Dr Streissgath's research suggests that two drinks a day equals approximately seven points detriment in IQ scores in 7 year olds.

Maternal 'social' drinking seemed to result in the offspring having similar but less severe consequences than those born with FAS, indicating in both cases the clear occurrence of permanent and irreversible alcohol-induced CNS damage during critical stages in foetal development.

bear in mind that last one was based on 2 drinks per day rather than one though

Ok this is working.

my midwife told me one a week was fine though! so maybe stick to that!

so why didn't Dr Ann Streissgath distinguish between the binge drinking and the 2 units a day subjects then?

i think she found that all of those things occurred in mothers who had 2 drinks a night OR binged

same results for both sets of women

Umm, half a glass?

Have stopped smokign so feel most virtuous and have even remembered the acid tabs most days.

you really shoudlnt be drinkign int he early months flum

really.
its not good.

stick to one a week... max!

even if risks are small... they are still there

have just had small eggcup glass of wine - the first since I found out I was pg (currently 14 weeks).

I couldnt drink before as felt so sick.

Am intending to have about four gulpfuls one night at weekend and thats it.

I really wouldnt drink a glass of wine every night but I know that there are plently of women on here who have with no ill effects.

I dont think drinking is a good idea during pregnancy. I had two glasses of wine the night I found out I was pregnant and didnt touch another drop until after I had my DD. I dont want to sound mean but you have a little life inside of you, you have to look after it! I was the worlds worst for having a drink..loved it infact, but nothing could have pursuaded me to touch a drop.
Anyway its only for a few months, nobody is saying go without..forever!

Message withdrawn

I have several friends who are doctors and this is/was their advice when I found out I was pregnant.

One glass on a Saturday and one glass on a Sunday, but only if you are prepared to wash them down with a least a litre of water.

HTH

k Flum, I didn't drink once i knew I was pregnant because I was sooo sick, but hit 16 weeks, on 2nd pg and to be honest, with dd1 (7 months when i got pg, so by then 10m) was finally asleep, had no more than 1 glass at a time - not every night, but prob more ofton than not...relaxed me, made me feel normal etc etc. my darling dd2 was 10lb 14oz!! completely beautiful, still the tallest girl in Prescholl (taller than all her older sisters friends too). Moderation is the key. I don't think one glass does any harm. more AND YES stop

Don't do it! Just think about the effect one glass has on you and the 'size' of you. The same effect is magnified to that tiny little being inside you as the alcohol crosses the placenta. And that on a regular basis. Well done for stopping smoking though, that must have been tough.

First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy and for giving up smoking.

I'm also going to say "don't do it". You wouldn't dream of giving an alcoholic drink to a baby so why drink when you are pregnant?

Think about why you are wanting to drink. If it is because it feels like your reward at the end of the day, what else could you treat yourself with instead? Chocolate? Nice bath? Massage from dp/h? Think of something, anything, but don't do something that will harm your baby (and it will, even if you deny it to yourself).

And btw, alcoholics are not people who necessarily drink huge amounts but are those who know that their drinking is having an adverse affect on some aspect or aspects of their life and still can't stop.

Best of luck though. Surely better to do something you don't quite want to do than trying to justify the guilt to yourself? Watching your baby and wondering if your need for wine has affected him/her?

I 'treat' myself with a bar of choc and a mug of ovaltine. Ok I'm willing to admit its not the same but honestly flum, after the first few days with no booze it it easy.

At 8 weeks pregnant I would not be drinking at all. A glass a night of Merlot is too much in pregnancy. Remember that alcohol is a toxin even though it tasted good.

Do you like lager or just wine? I used to drink a fair amount of wine before I got pg but am now converted to the delights of Becks alcohol free. It's surprisingly good if you like lager anyway.

I think thats a great idea, i never thought of that - alcohol free stuff!!!! I wonder if someone gave you a glass without knowing it was booze free you would notice??!!!

I craved red wine when pregnant but I didn't risk it. I managed to avoid all alcohol during the pregnancy and when my BIL visited me in hospital (after the birth)he turned up with a bottle of Chateau Neuf