Controversial!!! Have/do you drink alcohol in pregnancy?

[DanniiH]

Hi mummies.

Just wanting to get some opinions from real people not a regulatory body.

Personally I don't see the harm in having a glass of wine when pregnant but guidelines say to have none. I'm sure we've all heard people say my mum drank lots and I turned out fine and this is usually true I'm sure. With my son I drank a small glass of wine most nights, he is 3 and scarily bright so I've obviously caused him no harm. I'm pregnant again and whilst I won't drink every night I will have one if I fancy it.

Anyone else agree with this?
Anyone know of anyone where moderate drinking has caused harm to a child?

[higgle]

Nature kindly gave me an aversion to alcohol ( and swedes and coffee ) from what was probably day 1 of each pregnancy.

[fatfloosie]

Well DD was an accident and I have irregular periods so I only noticed I was pregnant about 8 weeks in when I started to feel sick when we were only on the second bottle of wine. Three bottles an evening was quite normal for us at that point . So yes I drank loads in the first trimester.

For the rest of the pregnancy, when DP was having some beer he used to say 'would you like a glass of babykiller' and I'd have one glass in the smallest wine glass we owned (and it was very small).

DD has some mottled port wine stains - luckily covered by underwear - but is otherwise fine (I do sometimes wonder if these are due to the early weeks baptism in alcohol). Gross and fine motor skills have always been fantastic and I think she has a pretty high IQ.

I didn't and don't lose any sleep over it. She's my little miracle and she's only here because of the booze and because I thought it was a bit ridiculous to go screeching to the chemists for a morning after pill at the probably-not-very-fertile-anymore age of 39.

[wanderingcloud]

Fwiw I didn't know I was pregnant until 11weeks with DS1. In that time I'd had a big birthday bash and my DH lost his job so we had more than a few nights sharing a bottle of whisky and raging at the gross injustice of it. I stopped drinking when I found out but by then the damage was already done iyswim so I did have a couple of tiny guilt ridden sips of DH wine over the course of the rest of my pregnancy. DS was and is absolutely fine and met all his milestones well ahead of time. I can't imagine him being any brighter or more amazing than he already is.

Second time around I knew much earlier I was pregnant and I've followed the guidance e.g. nothing in the first trimester and the very occasional glass since. I have found I can't manage a full glass now anyway. It's an individual choice and if you don't want to drink then don't but if you do then it's no one else's business!

[Rikalaily]

I rarely drink, maybe once every 3-6 months and then it's usually a bottle of beer or a half glass of wine topped up with lemonade. When I'm pregnant I'll have one if I feel like it. I don't think the odd one here and there will do any harm but I think drinking daily could cause problems, there are a couple of units in a glass of wine and drinking that daily adds up by the end of the week.

When I was pregnant with no.4 I went to a baby shower, I took two bottles of beer with me (drank them over a few hours and it was the only time I've had 2 drinks when pregnant) and the looks I got! I was a few weeks away from giving birth and they were the only drinks I'd had right the way through, you'd have thought I was sat there swigging from a bottle of vodka, lol.

[Bue]

fatfloosie you can be confident that there is no link between alcohol and port wine stains :) Excessive alcohol in the early weeks can cause problems, as we know, but that definitely isn't one of them!

[slatternlymother]

I chose not to, because I don't need it. I don't need to drink wine to be able to relax, and I didn't feel it did me any harm to stop for a while.

I think it'd actually do a lot of people a lot of good to abstain for a while; why not?

[slatternlymother]

And by a lot of good, I actually mean the realisation that you realise that if you can give up alcohol for a bit, you can probably give up other things too.

It gave me the realisation (post DS) that I gave up wine for 9 months, so surely I would be able to give up sugary/processed foods. It made me feel quite strong, actually

[LittleMissSnowShine]

I have had HG in all 3 pgs so I've been more or less booze free right through til third tri because idea of drinking absolutely turns my stomach (13+5 at the min!).

After I felt more like it, yes I would have occasional beer or glass of wine or Sainsburys sell this amazing low alcohol cider that's only one unit for a bloody big pint bottle you can pour over ice and drink like Magners if you're at a barbecue or something.

I don't think I'd drink spirits, and I prob wouldn't go beyond one small glass of wine or one lower alcohol beer / cider in a session tho and i'd probably only do it once a fortnight, but that's just me. As other posters have said you can do everything completely by the book and unfortunately it doesn't guarantee you a healthy baby so you have to do what feels right to you.

[BoffinMum]

The odd glass of wine won't cause a problem, say 150ml a week. Otherwise all countries would be giving out identical advice, and they don't. Much of this stuff is culturally bound, and some aimed at developing a public health stance via indoctrinating apparently impressionable women, rather than based on definitive science. Also it is about assessing levels of risk. I haven't looked it up, but I would imagine a pg woman is statistically more likely to harm her baby by allowing it to travel in a car than by imbibing 1 glass of wine a week. But we like cars, and we think wine is induglent and vaguely sinful.

[SolidGoldBrass]

LeBFG: That's why some scientists say that a few drinks won't do any harm. However, there are various pressure groups and vested interests who basically do hate women and wish to see them controlled and given fewer human rights than men; these love to jump on any small survey or bit of research that's still at a very exploratory stage. If you look at some of the stuff coming out of the US at the moment, where there are these absolutely foaming misogynists who probably shouldn't be allowed out without muzzles and leads, coming up with genuinely insane and completely incorrect theories about women's bodies, you might see it a bit differently.

Only about a generation ago, a pregnant woman was encouraged to drink stout (for the iron) and red wine (to encourage the milk supply) and at one point ISTR in the 60s a couple of drinks a day was regarded as a healthy way to avoid premature labour.

[Mixxy]

I did everything arseways. Didn't find out I was pregnant until 7 weeks. Drank heavily before then (very normal for me) went on a 3 week boozy holiday, went to a friends wedding and attended a 3 day Irish funeral. Obviously never touched a drop of alcohol after the test result. Im 38 + 3 now and have ruined the pregnancy because I'm so worried about FAS. Nothing has been able to calm me down about what I might have done to the baby.

My sister on the other hand, planned both her pregnancies so didn't have a drop of alcohol in the first trimesters and then would have maybe 2 glasses of wine a month at dinners or a small beer at BBQs etc. Both her children are perfectly healthy.

Cross your fingers for mine.

[CrumbyCrumbs]

Are you honestly saying that the reason pregnant women are advised not to drink is because people hate women and want to control then and give them less human rights than men? I've heard it all now! Yes, all information about drinking, smoking and eating unhealthy whilst pregnant is aimed at women. And do you know why? Sit down this might astonish you.. Men can't get pregnant! I mean, sure, the NHS could start handing out leaflets to men telling them how much to drink when pregnant, but seeing as they can't get pregnant in the first place..

So what about these studies and statistics linked to men drinking and it reducing their sperm count? Is that to control men and take away their rights? No, it's to protect their health. Just as the guidelines for pregnant women regarding alcohol are to protect their unborn child. Not take away their blooming human rights!!
No one is saying that a glass of wine or a bottle of beer is going to kill your baby. What people are saying is that you should just be careful as 9 months isn't really a long time to abstain from alcohol at the end of the day.

[CrumbyCrumbs]

And SolidGoldBrass that's like saying that smoking used to be regarded as healthy... You cannot compare today's guidelines with what happened 40 years ago. And the reason we are no longer told to drink stout is becase it contains a minimal amount of iron, and after scientific research they found it does more harm than good. And a couple of drinks aday could cause FAS. But I suppose us pregnant women should just stick to how things were done in the 60's right? Whether it harms our babies or not!

[Glitterspy]

I didn't know I was pg for the first 6-7 weeks, until then I did drink and must have been on a couple of nights out (would have drunk a couple of cocktails and a couple of glasses of wine, so a fair amount). Since then I have had a quarter/ half a small glass of red wine with a meal or couple of sips of champagne on special occasions, maybe 5-8 times in total over the remaining months. Certainly haven't ever felt like having more but then, haven't felt bad about it either!

[LeBFG]

Only about a generation ago, a pregnant woman was encouraged to drink stout (for the iron) and red wine (to encourage the milk supply) and at one point ISTR in the 60s a couple of drinks a day was regarded as a healthy way to avoid premature labour. This is exactly why research is done in this area - not to suppress women but to protect unborn children....so we know what'll happen if we drink excessively, take drugs or smoke during pg. There were lots of things we didn't know and little by little, as the research is done, we know more and this empowers women. It gives women the choice. They don't blindly follow guidelines or 'mother says'. They have a genuine choice.

Misinformation is a different thing altogether and my main complaint about pg advice is the ridiculous way in which it is applied. Why oh why are women being told not to eat pate? It really miffs me. I can only say it's H&S gone crazy. FWIW I think we'll see a change in NHS guidelines in the near future wrt alcohol.

SGB: you're right, I've no idea what is going on the US. But I really can't believe researchers and HP are conspiring against women. I really can't.

[SolidGoldBrass]

My point isn't that the drinking stout, etc, is actually right. The point is that when nearly all PG women obeyed that advice, they didn't give birth to generations of 'damaged' babies. It's simply not that big a deal, one way or the other.

As to the 'conspiracy to control women' FFS of course that exists. For centuries, the fact that 'women get pregnant' has been used to justify giving them fewer rights than men.

[Dryjuice25]

I never touch alcohol when pg. I dont drink apart from my birthdays /or socially anyway

[LeBFG]

Generations of babies were born damaged by poor maternal prenatal care - things women had control over. It's thanks to science that FAS is now so low for example - but there are plenty of other examples. Plus, just talking about 'damaged' babies is just one end of the spectrum - there are many smaller benefits in child health and wellbeing that have been fought for and improved by better prenatal education.

If the patriarchy really wanted to keep women permanently pregnant as you suggest there would be two things observed: very little prenatal education (why put women off being pg?!) and suppression of contraceptive advice. On the later point, I feel we live in an age where all and every female illness is blamed by not being on the pill. So....I still (cordially) don't agree with you SGB .

[Egusta]

I am not a big drinker anyway- usually weekends and special occasions when i really do enjoy a drink, but hardly ever otherwise. I did not know i was pg for a good 8 weeks and got blind drunk on one such special occasion when about 4 weeks. Then I treated myself to one 125 ml glass of decent wine on a Sunday throughout my pregnancy. No more than that.

i haemorraghed very badly during birth and was told by my HV and the doctor to drinks lots of Guiness and red wine at lunch and dinner - while breastfeeding. Which i joyfully did. Had no idea that was meant to be a no no either. DS is now 2.6, so this was NOT a long time ago!

[Adreamz]

I had lots of weddings during my first pregnancy so had the champagne to celebrate, this time I'm probably going to have a couple here and there (I'm not a heavy drinker anyway), as I'm in the first trimester and not telling anyone I have to have one if I go out so I'm not questioned :-) xx

[ballroompink]

I drank quite a lot in the two days before I found out I was (four weeks) pregnant, oops. Family parties! I then drank no alcohol until 16 weeks, then pretty much had a glass of wine a week for the rest of the pregnancy. On a handful of (special) occasions I had two glasses of wine. Most times I did this it made me feel very light headed and overheated.

[gloucestergirl]

To answer the OP's original question: I drank a glass of wine a week at snail's pace (the rate at which you drink alcohol is as nearly important as how much you drink). I will hold my hands up and admit I did it to feel normal again. I was working very hard, was in a new city and couldn't be bothered with pregnancy yoga to relax. Give me the pub and a watered down white wine spritzer instead. Actually I would have perferred a lighter work schedule or earlier maternity with full pay, but apparently that was not an option. I will join the leagues of others and say DD is perfectly normal, perfectly intelligent and not one jote of FAS about her. I do think that the guidelines err on the side of caution and, very cynically, I also think it is cheap and satisfying to boss people about.

[Louison]

Basically we shouldn't drink at all during pregnancy, especially during the second trimester due to the brain development during these period.
Scientist don't know from wich quantity of alcohol the baby could be harmed. They have no idea that's why the advice is no alcohol at all when you're pregnant. All we know is that the baby can be harmed by drinking frequently even if it's small quantities. just to remind you, alcohol exposure presents a risk of fetal brain damage at any point during a pregnancy, since brain development is ongoing throughout pregnancy. So avoid it as much as you can !

[cluttercluttereverywhere]

Mixxy, your post could have been written by me a couple of years ago - almost exactly the same situation. DS was born & was absolutely fine, still is. incredibly intelligent for a 20m old even if I do say so myself . My GP told me not to worry about the pre-test booze issue, and that stressing myself would not be good for the baby either, so please try not to worry, honestly.

[zcos]

there is not much research on this but I subscribe to Zoe Williams stance in what NOT to expect when expecting I had the odd glass of wine with a meal or half of real ale ... after week 20.