Booze survey: anyone else have a little tipple at Christmas?

[veggie77]

Hi. I'm 24 weeks now and wondering if it's 'safe' to have a little drink at Christmas. Haven't touched a drop since I found out I was pregnant. I only really miss it when everyone else has a glass of something, like in a pub or at a dinner party etc. But with Christmas being in a few days I sort of want to feel like I'm not missing out, and would love a little glass of red wine on xmas day with my dinner, and then maybe something a week later on New Years' Eve - when I'm at a party. I'm thinking that will be within my 1-2 unit allowance each week. Is anyone else planning to do the same thing? I'm probably being paranoid as people keep telling me they drank a glass of wine every week throughout pregnancy, and the baby was fine, and here I am planning a couple of one-off drinks and stressing about it.

Anyone else having this dilemma?

I didn't say there was a risk for a one off, I just don't see the point in doing so. I was simply commenting on the fact that some people are 'comfortable' with the risks of consuming alcohol on a regular basis. Even if professionals say you're 'allowed' 1-2 units a week, how can someone be comfortable with the possible risks? Like I also said, it's my personal opinion, if you're happy to drink alcohol then that's entirely your choice. I just don't feel comfortable choosing to pass on those bad bits to my baby.

Just to add I would have prawn cocktail (this is not "banned" anyway) and pate on toast (more likely to get listeria from a dodgy sandwich or salad imo) with my glass of wine

And what risks are you talking about babyperks? There are no proven risks from drinking a one off glass of wine!

Oh well sling me in with the bad guilty mummies brigade then. Ffs.

And each to their own but anyone acting WITHIN the guidelines who chooses to have ONE GLASS OF WINE as a ONE OFF is not risking anything, get off your preachy soapbox and way to make people (not me btw) bloody awful on Xmas Eve!!

There's ways of saying things and that isn't one of them

4 cases of listeria in the UK in the last 20 years, not all of whom were pregnant. yes I would eat a bit of pate but not much more for the vitamin A risk.

I'm about to have a mug of mulled wine, my first drink since August. Cheers!

Baby perks - not wanting to 'round' on you, just interested in what you mean bad bits? Honeslty if you don't enjoy it, I totally understand. I didn't fancy any wine in the first trimester, and have more a penchant for Champers at the mo. but all were talking about here mainly is a glass of what you fancy (if you fancy it) on Christmas Day. No risks, no 'bad bits'. There are no risks.

• honestly and we're - not sloshed already: promise.

Those that are saying there are no risks in a small amount of alcohol are wrong. The risks are minimal, but are still there.

As a side point, did anyone ever watch the episode of dispatches on binge drinking in pregnancy? Horrendous.

Show me where it says that 1 or 2 units of alcohol on Christmas day as a one off does anything harmful to a baby in utero please. I'd be very interested to see it

Oh for god sake, get off your high horses everyone will you! I have been craving a nice cold glass of rose since day one, but I couldn't bring myself to actually have a glass. Just wouldn't feel comfortable with it. But like I keep saying, that is MY choice and MY opinion. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad, it's your body and your baby and what you choose to do is entirely your right. I don't look down on anybody who decides to have a one off drink, I honestly don't. I'll just be happy with my glass of juice or water. That's all!

True, but we take risks in a lot of other ways too. Getting in a car, working a high stress job, eating unhealthy food once in a while. Tiny risks, but, yes, risks. It's ultimately a personal choice how you balance your quality of life with all that.

Personally I feel that reading this thread any longer is causing my child undue stress through my own soaring blood pressure, so I'll stop now! Merry Christmas all, please don't let anybody make you feel guilty about choosing what is right for you

well I really enjoyed that!

I was 5 months last Christmas and New Year's. I had a couple of drinks on both days.
I also drank a few other times during pregnancy, never more than 1 drink though (normally a glass of wine), and probably only about once a month?

Oh, and once, I had a Bailey's coffee. So good. But then, I also ate pate, blue cheese and raw egg.

Had a few sips of sparkling wine with my Xmas lunch today. Before I knew it I was rushing to the loo to be sick three times.

Dang MS :(

Safe to say i'm never eating Turkey or drinking sparkling alcohol again!

NHS guidelines now say pregnant women should abstain totally from alcohol but admit this is arbitrary advice as there is no hard evidence that drinking 1-2 units, 1-2 times per week affects the baby at all.

There was a study published in www.plosone.org that recently linked children of moderate drinkers (those who drink 1-6 units per week) to a lower IQ at 7 years old, but the study had many, many holes in it. Previous studies have shown no difference at 5 years. The IQ scores were linked to 4 genetic markers, each lowering the result by up to 2 points, though in no children were more than 3 markers found, (which in itself was rare), and only 1 or 2 markers was the most common. So the result concluded you could potentially lower your child's IQ by up to 6 points, though likely no more than 2-4 by having a glass of wine per week, only, though, if this was every week. The study found that women who drank in moderation during pregnancy were more likely to be older, middle class and professional, who in other studies have been shown on average to have children with higher IQs, and didn't take into account other environmental factors. The assumption was also being made that there is therefore a genetic link to IQ through these genetic markers - strange, as the scientific community as a whole seems to be undecided on this. Also, this is the only report that moderate drinking has any detrimental effect at all on an unborn child.

It's been shown (and far more conclusively) that exposing children under 3yo to TV is incredibly detrimental to their development and intelligence, due to creating too many neural pathways. How many parents worry about this compared to having a drink at Christmas? When I was expecting DS I drank 1-2 glasses of wine 1-2 times per week. He is now 6.5yo, top of his class by a mile, well adjusted, happy and disgustingly charming. I hate to think what he'd have been like without the booze...

Yes, yes csmm - I'm far more concerned with DC being exposed to tv, computers and iPads at too early of an age than the low amount of wine or Guinness that I've had/will have during pregnancy. But that's also because I know appropriate limits and feel 100% confident that I'm not doing anything that would harm my baby.

But really, each to her own when it comes to drinking and pregnancy. It's none of my business what other women choose to do or not do (and it's none of their business what I choose to do or not do!)

Due date today and I've just cracked open a beer!

I have been really relaxed this pregnancy and had a sip whenever I have felt like it, but usually after 2 or 3 sips of a drink I don't feel like it any more.

Also about to eat a meal that may be borderline out of date, so hope I will be alright on that front too!

csmm - thank you, you explain that really well (couldn't read whole report due to not being brightest tool in the box . . . Mother's daily half of Guiness perhaps )