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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Thoughts on alcohol during pregnancy

77 replies

babysaurus · 14/06/2011 15:17

Hi, I am 9+5 and am craving a glass of white wine like you would not believe! My sister said she drank a glass several times a week all the way through her pregnancy, whereas other friends of mine haven't touched a drop from day one until they finished breastfeeding. There also seems to be quite a lot of conflicting advice on alcohol, esp from country to country (eg US says none at all, whereas in France they think it's weird if you dont!)
Am curious to hear other viewpoints and experiences (if only to justify pouring myself a small glass on Friday!)

OP posts:

OyOfMidWorld · 14/06/2011 16:57

Sainsbury's sell de-alcoholised (Sp?) wine which has had the alcohol removed from it, rather than being created without alcohol, IYSWIM? I had this when I was pregnant and thought it was just like a 'real' glass of wine. There is only so much Schloer a woman can drink

nickelbabe · 14/06/2011 16:59

I wouldn't worry about it, though.

Just make sure you stick to pub measures - ie one unit of wine is a 125ml glass.
(or 125ml in a glass of any size! )

So far, I've had 3 glasses of wine - one at the MN meet-up, and two the following week after church. (an anniversary)
I've had sips of DH's beer, and it was bloody horrible!

but i've mainly been stickign to water, because that's all I fancy.

would you like to try non-alcohol lager? some of that is done how Oy said - alcohol taken out, so it's not sweet.

ToriaPumpkin · 14/06/2011 17:00

SheCutOffTheirTails · 14/06/2011 17:03

When I was pg with DD2 I had a constant craving for tiny little burgers. I could never find a meeting to address my relationship with tiny burgers, so I just sought out fast food establishments that sold them like the filthy addict I was :o

Why is the advice always that you can have a glass of wine? It's never that you could have a bottle of beer, even though that would presumably be just as good. Is it just that it's important to be ladylike when pregnant?

TheSecondComing · 14/06/2011 17:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nickelbabe · 14/06/2011 17:13

ladylike!

i assume it's because women don't drink beer?
I do, though, because I prefer beer

nickelbabe · 14/06/2011 17:14

I've been drinking Non-alcoholic Cobra.
it's a bit more lager-ish than Beck's Blue (which I think tastes like it's been mixed with cream soda)

Bartimaeus · 14/06/2011 17:41

"whereas in France they think it's weird if you dont"

Sorry, not to pick on you at all, but I've seen this spouted several times on mumsnet and it annoys me.

In France the official line is no alcohol. I do not know any pregnant women who've drunk wine, and at parties etc. my hosts all make sure I have soft drinks available. Same in restaurants, waiters do not expect to serve me wine.

I had one friend who had a big night out before she knew she was pregnant and she and her DH were horrified when they found out and felt guilty as anything, so the attitudes here are not very lax about alcohol.

rooks14 · 14/06/2011 18:22

I couldn't see the harm in having a small half of cider in the beer garden with my friends at about 20weeks, but it made me feel soooo ill! I'm still craving a lovely cool glass but I'm going to avoid it

Being young and healthy i've not been overly cautious during my pregnancy (flying, eating naughty cheese) but based on how it made me feel i wouldn't again!

icravecheese · 14/06/2011 18:31

During my first pregnancy (2006/07) the advice was 1-2 units per week - in fact when my iron levels came back low at 28wks, the midwife told me to enjoy a glass of red wine a few times a week to help with iron.

During my 2nd preg (2008/09) and now this 3rd preg, seems they've changed the advice totally - absolutely no alcohol at all. TBH I havent indulged at all this time as am so knackered looking after 2 little monkeys plus being preg, but I take the view that 1 or 2 small glasses per week is ok - my mother AND my MIL both regularly drank guinness when pregnant back in the 70's....all 4 of their children (including me!) are fine!!

Furthermore, my close friend is a GP, as is her husband, & their view is that you would need to be drinking a serious amount to harm your baby...(they read their medical journals regularly, where things such as FAS are discussed & researched frequently).

Stase · 14/06/2011 18:37

Small hijack, though related...
I'm off to Spain in a couple of weeks (will be 31 weeks) and would normally enjoy a cold beer with my Tapas. Is it the done thing or should I be surreptitious?

icravecheese · 14/06/2011 18:37

Bartimaeus - can second your post, have seen a few posts recently saying surely pregnant French women wouldn't avoid soft cheese / alcohol / rare meat.... I too know from fact that they are actually VERY serious about all the 'food /drink' rules in france, we visit alot & hubby has many french friends whom have been preg & take it all mega seriously (although, interestingly & surprisingly, they dont seem so bothered about giving up smoking during preg?!! But are hot on absolutely everything else, even down to no salad in restuarants..)

superjobeespecs · 14/06/2011 18:46

i took to sniffing AOHs beer in the first 3 months now and again i would love a drink (im 20+2) but will probably wait to wet the babys head :) my sis drank maybe once or twice a week when she was pg with my niece smirnoff ices/wkd and my niece seems fine. my friend attemted to drink a couple of times whilst pregnant and couldnt stomach it, my little niecee would give her such trouble for half a blue wicked it just wasnt worth it. i crave jaques cider as its summer and its my summer drink of choice but just cant see myself giving in just yet tho i still have time

superjobeespecs · 14/06/2011 18:46

OH not AOH silly keyboard cant spell

MsChanandlerBong · 14/06/2011 18:54

Bartimaeus and icravecheese I 'third' your posts! In fact, the french people I know (living in France), when they found out that pregnant women over here were told they could drink (a limited amount) during pregnancy found this shocking and it further cemented their view of us being a nation of drunken hooligans.

I have abstained during this pregnancy completely, on the basis that there is no way alcohol is good for you (or the baby) so 9 months off won't do me any harm. That said, I am probably giving my baby sugar poisoning with all the biscuits I am eating, so I am hardly an angel.

MrsVidic · 14/06/2011 19:10

I think we as a society need to address the fact that alcohol is a drug. It is a legal drug but this does not make it less harmful. In fact it is more harmful than heroin- the only thing that makes it safer than street drugs is the fact that its ingredients are monitored and the stregnth is displayed. In moderation it can be taken safely as with most other drugs but this does not make it better than them.

I work in the field of drugs and alcohol and have many clients who have come off heroin and switched to alcohol (in excessive ammounts) and been dead within 3 months.

Its only through knowing this and seeing the effects first hand I will not drink when preg and very rarley do.

natwebb79 · 14/06/2011 19:11

The conversation between me and my midwife at booking in went someting like this:

MW: You know that you need to cut down on alcohol but a couple of drinks every now and then is fine.

Me: Oh I've cut it out completely.

MW: But you know you can have a couple of glasses? Every now and then?

Me: Ok but I'm not bothered.

MW: But for a special occasion at least!

etc. etc.

Bless her, I felt like shouting "Ok I'll drink some booze! If it'll make you happy!!".

natwebb79 · 14/06/2011 19:12

I swear my mum told me once that she was actually prescribed bottles of stout for iron deficiency by the doctor when she was pregnant with me! One a day apparently...

zipzap · 14/06/2011 19:17

I know a very good obs and gynae lady - she didn't give up when pregnant but would have a small glass of something when she fancied it. Like others she said guidelines were there for the idiot few that thought a litre of vodka a night was a moderate amount rather a unit here and there. Also lots of the research was done in the US where a unit is different from a British unit so that needs to be taken into account.

She went further though and said that sometimes a little drink could be good for you. If you were stressed that is bad during pregnancy so a little drink would help you relax and therefore be beneficial as you would be removing some of the stress effects...

Obviously this is within the sensible drinking guidelines and would not apply if you were drinking the aforementioned bottle of vodka a night to destress!

There was some research done a year or two that showed a drink or two occasionally actually was good for you and the baby when pregnant. Cue government officials saying that it was still best not to drink 'just in case' and because mums to be weren't able to understand how to drink sensibly . Ok I paraphrase a bit but that was the gist of it. Bloody officials!

Stase · 14/06/2011 19:34

That's my understanding too zipzap
I'm a bit at comparisons to heroin when we're talking about an occasional drink, for pleasure, rather than because we're 'desperate'. You know, it's a sunny day, you're out with friends, you fancy small bottle of Becks, you have one, nothing bad happens....

Eviepoo · 14/06/2011 19:45

It's a personal choice IMO. I would always ask my family n friends to consider carefully anything that may have an impact.

I have chosen mostly to drink alcohol free lager because I like the taste of beer and in 2nd trimester really fancied it.

Having said that I have had a half of guiness (very occasionally) or a small glass of red wine once or maybe twice a week.

I had a small glass of red on Saturday, with my steak lunch for my birthday. (yes I am anaemic and really fancied steak n a drop red wine)

yummymango · 14/06/2011 19:47

I am sure an occasional drink is fine as long as you are sensible. I love wine normally, when not pregnant I drink wine maybe 3 or 4 nights a week and enjoy it while socialising. However, whilst being pregnant I have found that I didn't fancy it at all in the first trimester, and after that I have had a maximum of one or two small glasses a week with a meal (and mostly fallen asleep before finishing the glass!!). I certainly don't have the taste for it like I did before!
I suppose if it worries you a lot and you would feel guilty then probably best to avoid it...but I am sure all our parents/friends probably had the odd drink before they changed the rules and I don't know anyone who has had a baby with FAS. I do think its a personal choice though.

isoldeone · 14/06/2011 19:59

No spirits . Drank cobra when it was hot , bbqs . Small glass of red x 2 with a meal around 30 weeks when ms abated. But felt what was the point in one ? I'm an all or nothing . Quite liked the alcohol free ( more or less) year ! Drank whilst bf though. Guiness etc

valbona · 14/06/2011 20:04

Nine months is a long time to go without a drink! I couldn't stand the idea of alcohol for the first 13 weeks, but now I think each Monday morning hmmmm which are my two glass of wine days going to be. It makes the most ordinary Friday night at home with a DVD into a real TREAT if it comes with a (yes, yes, small) glass of decent red wine.

MamaLaMoo · 14/06/2011 20:06

I taught twins with FAS, they were at secondary school and their mother was an alcoholic, I mean full blown permanently slurred speech, unkempt, haggard alcoholic. She had 6 kids and only those two were obviously affected, boy one year older was bright for his age.

I would abstain for the first trimester as this is when all kinds of drugs can affect organ development, even overheating at the gym can cause problems with development! Family friend who is a consultant did the same but then she had the odd glass of wine, as people have said 2 units a week not two a night. I have had the occasional, maybe once a month, 1/2 pint of beer in 2nd and 3rd trimester.

My mum drank, small amounts I guess as she isn't a big drinker, all through 4 pregnancies as there were no guidelines against it and we are all fine.

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