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?

erm i had a small glass of wine most days

sorry! i know others that did too

I will be 17 weeks on my wedding day and am looking forward to treating myself to 1 glass of champagne. My first drop since a week before we found out

Health problems in newborns are often caused by poverty. Stupid people like to blame this sort of thing on the poor ie they are too thick and lazy and 'selfish' to cook proper meals, ignoring the practical difficulties such as restricted cooking and food storage, the distance a poor person without a car might have to travel to obtain affordable fruit and veg as opposed to the local takeaway or corner shop which offers fishfingers and Pot Noodles and not much else...

Health problems in pregnant women and birth defects in babies are also often down to inadequate maternity care. It's just easier and more politically expedient to label women as lazy, selfish and stupid than to put more state funding into training and employing midwives.

THen there's the whole business of genetics. Some conditions (eg haemophilia, types of breast cancer, muscular dystrophy) are now known to be down to genes rather than infection but, as yet, people who have the problematic genes are not being forbidden to breed - particularly as in nearly all of the problems with genetic components, it's not guaranteed that every baby you concieve will suffer from them.

THe hard-of-thinking and the misogynistic get all obsessive and judgmental about alcohol-in-pregnancy partly out of magical thinking (if I scream loud enough about how eeeevil it is to have a sip of sherry while you are of childbearing age, any babies I breed will be protected from harm because I'm righteous) and partly out of a belief that women are not people but Sacred Vessels of Incubation and therefore should always put their own needs, whims and wishes at the back of the queue.

I drank A LOT before I found out I was pregnant, but I was only about three weeks along when I found out so, although there is potential for harm, at least I was able to limit it from that point on (I haven't drunk at all since, but I'm one of those who can't see the point of drinking a little bit - I only drink to get pissed).

I personally think that common sense (and a bit of research if necessary) should prevail in matters such as this. Guinness, red wine and stout do NOT contain anywhere near enough iron or anything else to make them beneficial during pregnancy, for a start, and anyone can (and should, if they're pregnant, really) look this up in a quick internet search before they decide to fill their boots. Also, when we drink alcohol, it is absorbed through the skin in your throat and stomach lining directly into the bloodstream (hence why you can get pissed by pouring vodka into your eye or soaking a tampon in it, if you're feeling so inclined), and obviously from the bloodstream it is passed through the placenta and to your baby. In the early stages of pregnancy, or if you drink a fair amount or very quickly, this can obviously lead to ill effects in your developing baby. Now, if you really feel the need to drink, then in the later stages of pregnancy, one or two units occasionally (which, as someone else mentioned, is just one very small glass of wine) should do no harm - after all, if you had your baby at thirty-odd weeks and (for some reason) gave them the same amount to drink themselves, there would be no lasting ill effects on the baby.

Basically, unless you're going out and getting shitfaced every friday night, I think it's up to you what you do, and I would never think anything of a pregnant woman enjoying a glass of wine on her birthday or half a lager on a summer's night. But I do think carrying a child means you should cut down if you're used to drinking heavily or regularly. I know it's been said already, but it is only nine months, it's not the end of the world.

The only safe amount of alcohol in pregnancy is NO alcohol

I have an exam in the morning and need to work for it but will come back and post my reasons for saying that tomorrow evening - I'm not saying everyone who drinks will cause harm, but that to avoid the risk of harm from alcohol the only way to completely eliminate the risk is to not drink. There are 9-10 mechanisms by which alcohol can damage the brain of a fetus and another few in terms of causing other cellular damage.

I'm not saying it will cause it - but it can and therefore if you are making a decision about it, why not wait til the 9 months is over to have a drink?

louison your preaching not giving your stance and there is no evidence to back up what your saying!

solid gold here here!
and remember before the alcohol gets to the placenta it is filtered through liver and kidneys!

They do make non-alcoholic wine for those of you who wish to enjoy the taste without the alcohol.

I personally didn't and wouldn't have any alcohol during pregnancy, why risk it? I also avoided cooking with it. I also don't drink it when breastfeeding. Just as some women avoid certain foods and others feel they can take the risk, it's all about chance and choice. If you use common sense and natural instincts (most of the time) you'll be all right.

FGS zcos, alcohol is a TOXIN. That's what the liver is doing. Eliminating something that can damage us. Babies' livers are extremely poorly developed. We frequently go off alcohol in early pg - this is our bodies protecting our unborn babies.

You live in a bleak world where all those who think we should follow some prenatal guidelines are either 'hard-of-thinking' or 'misogynistic' SGB. I'm a bit disappointed at the sweeping judgments being made by you. Poverty is not the cause of so many postnatal complications, or indeed prenatal ones. THey are frequently linked statistically because, yes, this group is more likely to have poor access to prenatal advice, poor educational attainment and thus not understand the advice and follow it and have poorer hygiene...These factors are much more likely to explain why smoking in pg is still prevalent in the poor, not the simple statement 'because they are poor'.

Maternity care helps to protect unborn babies. As does lots of things a mother herself can do - stop taking drugs, stop smoking, stop drinking, avoiding undercooked meats. No amount of wealth, education or maternity care will stop a baby contracting toxoplasmosis if the mum takes the risk of eating undercooked meats during pg.

LeBFG here here!! I completely agree with the fact that no amount of prenatal care is going to stop toxoplasmosis if the mother takes the risk of eating undercooked meat!

I think what some people don't understand is that even when something doesn't affect them or their body, it can still be affecting the baby in severe ways!

And I still think it is utterly ridiculous to say that guidelines for pregnant women are there to take away their rights. I read that to my mother and my sister in law and they actually laughed out loud.. I'm all for womens rights but thats just taking the piss!

Zcos no that is where you are wrong. Only alcohol which the body can't process is taken to the liver, the stuff what your body processes goes straight to the placenta, and juat because your body can process it, that doesn't mean to say your baby's can and that means it has to pass through their tiny, underdeveloped liver.

I've already posted saying I drank a very little bit when I was pg with DS towards end of second tri, occasional small glass of wine or whatever. So I just want to clarify that I really don't have an issue with a pregnant woman having the occasional shandy or whatever.

But for the posters saying they drank 'most days' when they were pg and it didn't do them any harm etc. fetal alcohol syndrome is a real thing. www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-alcohol-syndrome/DS00184 I work with teenagers who were affected by alcohol and substance abuse in the womb and as an environmental factor in their childhoods and the impact it has had on their development is marked and it is very sad.

Also it's not just the UK that advises no alcohol consumption during pregnancy, it's also USA and Australia.

So drink in moderation if you want to but don't be swayed by anyone saying its poverty that causes birth defects or that they drank everyday and their kids turned out fine - this is your baby and your body and you have to decide what (if any) is the right amount of alcohol for you while pregnant.

Maybe there should be a MN campaign to make it clearer how many units of alcohol are in a drink. I would happily measure out e.g. 110 ml of wine to ensure I was only drinking one unit at a time. I'm currently breastfeeding and have found a few low alcohol real ales that have 1.4 units of alcohol per bottle so I'll happily have one of those and not usually finish the bottle so I know I'm drinking a limited amount. I always wait until after the last feed of the night so I can be confident that no alcohol is going to the baby.

I drank over what was the recommended amount (can't remember now but I am sure it was a couple of units a week then). I would say on average I probably drank a glass of wine every other day and had 2 glasses at Xmas and birthday. I avoided it during the first trimester (apart from before realising I was pregnant). I have 3 children - all turned out fine.

for all those pointing out that alcohol is a toxin, please consider locating and reading the (very well referenced and thorough) wikipedia pages on vitamins. Folic acid, iron and vit B12, for example - very important for foetal and placental development. Also toxic in high quantities.

The importance of Folic acid was only actually discovered after research which indicated that the yeast in beer was beneficial in pregnancy.

Alcohol comes in many forms. There are various strengths, from different brewing processes, ingredients, artificial additives, impurities. I can't drink lager (pg or not) because the partial fermentation of the yeast disagrees with me. I can drink ale, which has a very simple brewing method and just three natural ingredients (of course some modern brewers put all sorts of extras in) and it is one of the oldest drinks in human civilisation.

Most importantly of all though, I am completely happy with my choices.

Some of you seem unable to comprehend the difference between a risk and a guarantee. If an individual woman decides that she will drink no alcohol at all while TTC and throughout her pregnancy, that's up to her. She's decided that the risk of fetal alcohol damage is one she's not prepared to take.
Another woman might decide that the risk attached to a small amount of alcohol is low enough that she is not going to worry about it. Once again, that is up to her. Plenty of women drink in very early pregnancy because they are not planning or expecting a pregnancy and therefore don't know that they are pregnant; there are often no ill effects.

If a pregnant woman decided to rehome her cats, because she was worried about toxoplasmosis, some people would say she was being sensible, some that she was overreacting (and plenty of cat-obsessed bucketheads would be shitting themselves with rage and calling down curses on her). If she decided to keep the cats and take precautions such as getting her H to deal with the litter tray and the catfood, some would say she was risking her unborn baby's life, others that she was being sensible rather than hysterical.

Because a pregnant woman is not public property, It's up to her what risks she decides are worth taking, and which things she would prefer to avoid. Sames as if she decides she wants to terminate a pregnancy at any point - it;s up to her and no one else.

I like a good glass of red vino, however I didn't drink when I was TTC or during the first trimester of my pregnancy, when we told everyone the news that I was pregnant I had a small celebratory glass of red wine and it tasted amazing after that I allowed myself a small glass of red wine once a week if I wanted it...

When pregnant I craved sherry, with both my DC. In fact that's how I knew I was pregnant, I drank a bit while pregnant but nothing much.

My DH is quite a heavy drinker and recently I got some information from my doctor and the Drinkaware website, he was shocked - a bottle of wine is on average about 9.6 units!

Early in my first pregnancy I filled out a questionaire that amongst other things asked alcohol intake. I wrote down 1-2 units a week, but it was wrongly recorded as 12 units a week.

I didn't notice it in my notes for ages and was mortified to discover it. When I explained this to MW's & Dr's they laughed it off saying that they weren't worried anyway.

After a miscarriage at 13 weeks and a stillbirth at 36 weeks (with a healthy DS born inbetween) I don't take any risks. Won't touch a drop till DS3 arrives here safely. Then I plan on having a big glass of my favourite Mumm pink champagne :-)

What Solidgoldbrass said.

I chose to drink a glass of wine one or two nights a week through both of my pregnancies. The risk to me was acceptable and very low. I drank the glass with a meal, and it was something nice to look forward to.

That was my attitude to the risk. There were other things I wouldn;t do that some pregant women would do. Up to them. I had my limits and they were no one else's business.

the DoH has to allow for the lowest common denominator ie there will be whose who read 'one or two glasses a week' as 'get pissed every night'. There will also be those who cannot make up their own minds about risk and need a bit of hand holding. The guidance is for them.

yes, I drank a glass of red most through all of my pregnancies when i could stomach it
i felt the risk wasn't significant

SGB, I agree. As a card-carrying Cat-Obsessed Buckethead, I've had a lot of stick for keeping my cats and continuing to clean their litter trays and bowls, etc (because I lived alone until a few weeks ago and couldn't expect someone to come round and clean up after them every time they shit). I requested an extra blood test for the toxoplasma antibodies at my booking appointment, and it came back positive (meaning I've already been exposed to it and can't catch it again), so to me, rehoming them seemed unnecessary.

With my due date approaching, now I have people telling me that I need to rehome them because of the risk of them climbing in the cot and suffocating my baby. Now, I've read a lot about this and as far as I've seen, there's never been a proven case of this happening, but nonetheless I can see how it might happen, and why you wouldn't want a cat in the baby's cot anyway, so I've taken steps to repel them from the cot well in advance, and bought sturdy nets to go over it (even though I'll be keeping the cats out of the bedroom at night). I'm happy with my choices, and I'm happy to take responsibility for them.

Basically, as long as someone makes sure they are well informed on the issue in question, be it drinking in pregnancy or whatever, then they should be able to do whatever they choose to do and take responsibility for the consequences, and it's nobody else's business.

What you don't take any risks amyboo?!

Good luck with dc3.

And Yes to what SolidGoldBrass said.

SGB, your last post is on much firmer grounds and avoids much of what was discussed in your previous posts. No one on here is advocating telling pg women what to do - just that the info be available to women to make the best choices for themselves.

To everyone who agrees with SGB, do you also agree that the patriarchy is making up these pg myths to keep women suppressed??? Do you really agree???