Alcohol and pregnancy, how much is too much?

[bmm39]

I have heard so many mixed views/opinions from expectant mothers, mothers and professionals re: alcohol and pregnancy. Was interested in other peoples view of alcohol during pregnancy. I am talking about minimal consumption not get getting completely blind drunk. I had one glass of wine when I was 14 weeks pregnant, is that so bad?

That sticker is ridiculous. It's not a law, like no tobacco sales to under 18s. it's a guideline. Not a ban.
I renamed it the "no fat chavs with ponytails" sticker. It should really be a different warning on red wine, a "this beverage will make you want to puke" symbol.

If they have that on alcoholic drinks they should have a pregnant woman with her thumbs up on the non alcoholic ones?

That's inaccurate anyway, she only has one glass which is fine according to guidelines. Perhaps they should have her with a bottle of wine and a couple of shooters? Stupid patronising sign.

they should have her lying on her back passed out surrounded by lots of empty bottles.

they should have her lying on her back passed out surrounded by mutant babies

To (sort of) answer the OP I refuse to get stressed about a few small drinks a week any more than I would get stressed about the odd KFC , if you're of a mind to you could get stressed about everything you do/eat/drink/breathe but what's the point, you're only hurting yourself (and possibly the baby)?

I'm actually more interested in the harm alcohol does to a breastfeeding baby - I have read that with no placenta to filter out the alcohol this is actually more dangerous, yet the powers-that-be don't seem to have quite the same well-advertised hardline on this, maybe because they want to encourage breastfeeding not put people off? Is the ponytailed woman downing a vino with a cross through her appearing on Expressing equipment, I wonder...

So do we some new mums who, having abstained from alcohol for 9 months, get wrecked in celebration and feed the little one without actually being aware of the risks associated?

And yes, Becks Blue has become my new best friend :o For me it's more psychological than actually WANTING the alcohol, I don't want to feel left out because I'm pg. For example I'll pour a small glass of wine when others are also drinking, have a few sips through the evening, and end up giving it to my DH. People who witness me sitting with a glass of wine may think I am some terribly neglectful mother but that's more their problem than mine because the reality is not as it appears.

but toddlerama, the guidelines were changed (from 1-2 units 2x a week to none) because it was deemed that women could not judge what 2 units is.

Not because there was any new evidence suggesting a risk.

Pointing this out is not "berating the establishment"

hp "safe to drive safe to feed" is the advice normally given to bf mums.

Alcohol does pass to the milk but only in small quantities, and leaves it at the same rate it leaves the blood (so no need to pump and dump unless for comfort/supply)

Some time ago tiktok (mn's unofficial resident breast feeding councillor) said something like after a glass of wine alcohol in bm is similar levels to that naturally occuring in orange juice. She did the maths and it really isn't an issue.

More worrying would be being drunk in charge of a baby, regardless of feeding method.

A lot of alcoholic drinks are stronger than what they used to be. Wine is a good example, lots is 13.5% now so a medium glass already has 2 units, not the one unit some people mistakenly believe. Cider is another example. Any spirit poured at home will be a more generous measure. Many many people seriously underestimate their weekly consumption of alcohol by not understanding that one drink does not equal one unit. It's not just that they think women are stupid, but that people in general in this country drink a hell of a lot more than they used to.

If you are going to drink at all you need to make sure you are educated about units. Fortunately most stuff has it on the bottle now. Interestingly I have discovered some nice low alcohol wine which still tastes like wine but is only 5.5%

That's not specific to women. Most people find it hard to judge a unit of alcohol, simply because it isn't served in unit form, it's served in pints/glasses(the most subjective) and shots. Because each drink has a differing alcohol content, many people (not just women) find that a difficult thing to judge accurately.

What kat said

It's a shame this thread has got personal. Personally, i agree with the sentiment of "it's only 9 months, why bother?". Do you really need a drink that badly? That's why i'm not drinking at all while pregnant, but i wouldn't judge anyone else for making an educated decision to do so.

Feel abit better now. I have a party tonight so I have brought myself a miniture bottle of red wine which is 2 units. Will enjoy it too. Stacked the fridge with non alcoholic beer too.

When my mother was pregnant with me 30 years ago it was very common for pregnant women to drink alcohol. A few halfs in the pub was common knowledge. I do honestly believe that it is the binge drinking culture that has caused the anti-drinking campaign.

but the advice to the general populace wasn't change was it? Surely we should all be told not to drink as we are all so bad at gauging units?

Only the advice to pregnant women was changed.

On that principle we could be told to but out anything.

What if you were told not to eat chocolate because of the risks from the sugar and cafeine it contains?

i thought giving up alcohol would be a doddle as i barely drunk anyway. Maybe a couple of pints of decent lager every other week or the odd glass of wine when i've made a meal. But because i don't go out getting leathered when i go for a drink its something to enjoy. Like me and dh would do a big dog walk then go to a beer garden on the way home, so i really missed it! Midwife said no alcohol at all, everywhere else has said 1-2 units max a week. I didn't drink anything in the first 13 weeks. But on a saturday night dh has allowed me to have ONE of the weakest of lager shandies! lol

I have just wasted 5 minutes of my day reading this nonsense! 5 minutes I will never get back.

Are women so brainwashed? Can we not be sensible about it and know our own bodies? If you want to drink then do!

Just don't get pissed, SIMPLE.

If you don't want to drink (to all you puritanical goody goodies give me a gold star cause I didn't TOUCH the stuff) then don't.

Jeeeeeeeeeez.

Actually they did change the advice to the general population. Once upon a time they said 21 units for women and 28 for men. They since put it down to 14 units for women and 21 for men. Hasn't changed the fact that a lot of people drink more than this.

Really, most educated sensible women who don't have an ishoo with alcohol should be able to use their common sense, have the odd drink if they want without getting ratarsed.

My boyfriend was telling me earlier about a woman he works with who is under the impression that she can only eat 2 squares of chocolate a day as it is dangerous in pregnancy. WTF is that about? Fortunately he does not subscribe to any of this nonsense and is still supplying me with bars of dairy milk on demand.

carefull kat. Dairymilk contains cafeine and sugar so you are increasing your risk of still birth and gestational diabetes.
Yes there might not be any evidence that the amounts you are consuming pose a threat. But best knock it on the head to be sure...you can't be trusted to know your own limits.

The general populace were not told to abstain from alcohol though were they?

I have been drinking about 2 units twice a week since the start of my second trimester. I researched FSA, and other risks, first and chose to drink from 13 weeks as a result of the findings. As has already been said, there is absolutely no proven, medical research that 1-2 units, once to twice weekly will do any harm to the baby from this stage and the risk of FSA is minimal, even if you were to drink double that. I agree that the 'binge drinking culture' in the UK has a lot to blame here - but also our patriarchal society.

We appear to have come to a point in society where the rights of an unborn foetus are infinitely more than that of the mother carrying the child. My baby is much, much wanted, and I am, and will, take all reasonable, cautious steps to ensure her safe delivery, in exactly the same way as women have been doing for thousands of years. But as an intelligent, educated woman I have every right to question and analyse the opinions placed upon me during my pregnancy by our society and our government and I will not toe a line just because a blanket ban is needed for those who do not appear to understand that excessive drinking may be harmful to the development of the unborn child. There is no proof whatsoever, that alcohol, in small, regulated amounts is harmful to the foetus. There an abundance of information and research proven to show that smoking is incredibly dangerous, as is some drug use. On a lesser level, I use my brain to gauge many risks - ultrasounds, eating softly boiled eggs, or only cooking my steak to medium rare, which all carry, apparently, huge risks to my baby according to the 'guidelines'. I researched ultrasounds, I eat fresh, lion stamped eggs and ensure that the steak I cook is thoroughly sealed on the outside, so that I can enjoy it as I want.

This infantalisation of pregnant women has got to stop. Those stickers on alcohol are an example and as someone earlier wisely said, drinking alcohol is not against the law, so why do they exist?!

Interestingly, it is only men who have so far displayed their displeasure at the sight of me drinking (my one medium glass of wine) and have questioned me about it. My FIL knows my stance and yet each time I visits sets a place for me at the table minus a wine glass, unlike every other member of the family. When i challenge them back on what risk they are so concerned about, not one has been able to tell me what the risk is - and not one has mentioned FSA. They believe it because that's what women are told by the UK government.

My sister had a unit per week - a tot of Baileys. Personally, I didn't like the idea of doing the same myself (the thought of my baby with his developing little liver put me off) but that's a personal choice for me. Her children are fine, of course. You have to go quite far to really get fetal alcohol syndrome going, after all...

Just wanted to agree that drinking while breastfeeding is less of an issue than drinking while pregnant because some alcohol passes into the baby's blood across the placenta whereas in the process of making milk, the alcohol has to diffuse from your blood into the milk and then from the milk in the baby's digestive system into the baby's blood so a smaller amount does. Having said that, clearly the odd glass while pregnant is fine and probably more dangerous to walk down the street.

Good post, Fixit. The whole thing is a bloody outrage.

Re drinking while breastfeeding, my friend tried this once and - whether as a consequence or not, she's not sure - her baby threw up the milk afterwards. Anyone else experienced this?

Apparently, though, the trick may then be to express milk in advance and then throw away the alcohol-affected milk. This bit of advice came from an altogether separate person.

I'll admit to missing drinking am not a lush or an alcoholic or anything but i am finding personally 9 months is a long time. Personally as an educated person i feel i can decide what is right for me and my baby and make my own decisions and think everyone should have the same right. If i want a glass of wine i'll have one but wouldnt have another and wouldnt every day, if i want a beer i will have a shandy or a becks blue (also a big fan).

Its much easier to cut out alcohol than caffeine so cant see the point in being puritanical about drinking in pregnancy if people are still drinking coffee, eating chocolate etc. BUT it is an individual choice so OP if you want a drink i say have 1 in moderation.

I miss drinking, but not as much as I miss laying on my belly and feeling my blood pumping at the gym (am too tired for it).

nope, I drank when breastfeeding, I started by having a glass of wine while doing the last breastfeed of the night, thinking it can't pass into the milk THAT quickly, then read somewhere I think it takes about 4 hours for alcohol to leave your system so used that as a guideline. But did once get a bit pissed at a BBQ and forgot about it and breastfed - nothing weird or unusual happened. Yup, that was probably irresponsible and I hold my hands up and say it was. Didn't do it again.

That label on alcohol really, really really pisses me off. It actually makes me want to down a whole bottle of wine there and then just because, actually, legally, I bloody well can (I don't obviously!)

Great post, Fixit. It's the key to pregnancy isn't it...get yourself informed, judge whether guidance is legitimate & on health grounds, or due to our society's Pre-judgemental attitudes, and make the right decisions for you and your little one.

And, if it's concerning you - don't do it. It's fine.