Glass of wine on Chrismas day.

[LucyB1]

Hi, I'm going to be 12+5 on Christmas day and i am absolutely GAGGING for a glass of red. Is that really bad cause I'm not quite out of the first trimester??

according to the NHS www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54#close you cant have:

blue cheese
soft cheese
unpasteurized milk
alcohol
raw / underdone eggs
pate
rare / underdone meat soo:
underdone steak
cold meats
smoked meat / fish
any fish that might have high levels of mercury
raw fish, so sushi or sashimi
vitamin A
alcohol
more than a tiny bit of caffeine
any unwashed fruit or veggie

... have to admit I get to the point of saying something crude and working on the principle of 'moderation in all'

Considering that the 2 pregnant doctors I've been out with tonight both had a glass of prosecco with dinner, you have nothing to worry about!

I've had 1 small glass every couple of weeks and its just lovely :)

I'm just over 25 weeks and have drunk pretty steadily throughout this pregnancy (glass or two of red, once, twice a week or so, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less) at the direct instruction of my OBGYN. I have monthly scans (healthcare here, not in UK) and all of which have shown my son growing at a wonderful rate, completely healthy and thriving.

I have absolutely no bother whether someone wants to drink during pregnancy or not, completely and utterly up to them, but it's the "why risk it?" posters that really fecking annoy me! Why risk what??? I walk up 6 flights of stairs of a really tall building, 8 times a day at least. Am I not risking my unborn child's safety more with the likelihood that I'll trip and fall?

Aside from the fact that as a completely healthy women non-dependent on alcohol with a completely healthy liver function, the fact that the "alcohol" doesn't even reach the baby given that my liver does it's very good job of processing it before it reaches the placenta. The reason FAS is more prevalent in much heavier drinkers is because their liver is already functioning poorly due to the amount of alcohol it's having to process on a very regular basis and this means the alcohol will more than likely cross the placenta and affect the unborn baby. Completely healthy non-alcoholic women can more than handle an alcoholic drink or two, should they wish, and go on to given birth to completely healthy babies. At what point did we lose reason on this subject?

Why is it only alcohol that people like to attempt to guilt trip you over? Jaysus, like all pregnant women lose the ability to make informed decisions the milisecond that the sperm meets the egg.

OP you go right ahead and enjoy that glass of bubbly on Christmas day as so many reasoned posters on this thread have recommended! Plenty of us will be!

er...did you actually read the link? Stilton, sushi and cold meats are all considered safe to eat under FSA / NHS guidelines.

Back on topic.

The new 'no alcohol' guidelines is for public health. If you tell everyone it's fine to have a 'small amount' of alcohol in pregnancy then a % of them are going to drink to the extent that it damages their baby . If you say 'no alcohol' then a much smaller % will drink too much.

I once read about a mum whose baby was born with FSA who complained she 'only' drank 2 glasses of wine a night - they were large glasses and she was probably drinking about 45 units a week! Some people's idea of 'small amounts' especially the British is not small at all.

Same with weaning. Not much evidence for 6 months but plenty for not giving solids before 4 months - the 6 months guideline simply means that fewer people start giving baby rice at 8 weeks. Not an honest way to manage public health but some people are thick an evidence based one.

hrm, i must have misread then. Thanks tondelaya

I will say though that a 'not honest' way of managing public health actually tends to create mistrust and a rather dismissive attitude to guidelines among people. It may work in the short term while people still believe in the guidelines but in the longer term - well, people get to know.

I think an honest approach is better. It will lead to some people getting it wrong yes. But it does too, if you can't trust the official guidelines. It's also treating us much more like responsible adults which again in the longer term is better than making us into kiddies who havbe to be fed half-truths or untruths.

PS actually I live in a country where you get glared at and people make comments I consider rude, if you do eat sushi which is why I overlooked the link about the NHS considering it safe. And it's amazing how free people feel to tell you that you're an irresponsible mother and an alcoholic if you have one sip of wine or even sniff the glass. Im not joking.

Would you give your baby a glass of wine? Just saying!

Someone didn't concentrate in biology did they?

what's giving a baby a glass of wine got to do with you having one at christmas?

To quote strokethefurrywall

Aside from the fact that as a completely healthy women non-dependent on alcohol with a completely healthy liver function, the fact that the "alcohol" doesn't even reach the baby given that my liver does it's very good job of processing it before it reaches the placenta. The reason FAS is more prevalent in much heavier drinkers is because their liver is already functioning poorly due to the amount of alcohol it's having to process on a very regular basis and this means the alcohol will more than likely cross the placenta and affect the unborn baby. Completely healthy non-alcoholic women can more than handle an alcoholic drink or two, should they wish, and go on to given birth to completely healthy babies. At what point did we lose reason on this subject?

Now as it happens, for me personally I am not fully healthy so I have at the very most a sip - i think 3 sips in 21 weeks - and we're having non-alcoholic sparkly on xmas day.

But comments like 'would you give your baby a glass of wine" have nothing to do with the discussion, which is about YOU having a glass. The implicatoin that by you having a glass, your baby is, is based in ignorance and alarmism.

You guys seem to care more about yourself relaxing and you 'deserving it ' and arent able to stop for a few months more than your babies. Dont they deserve it.

If theres no proven risk but then no proof of no risk why take any chances.

Yes its risky to walk down stairs to work but you have to work. You don't have to drink.

But your bodies your babies and if everyone you know is doing it you might as well....

I don't understand how anyone can draw a parallel between a pregnant/breastfeeding woman drinking wine and giving wine directly to a baby. By this logic, throughout pregnancy you should ONLY drink breastmilk or formula as nothing else is safe for a baby. Even water!

It infuriates me when people spout this nonsense because it demonstrates such a total lack of rational thought and really invalidates any argument against drinking in pregnancy. Everything you eat or drink is metabolized by your body - it doesn't cross the placenta in it's original form! Your liver processes the alcohol. If you drink a small amount slowly with food, your liver can keep up and metabolises it all. If you do a series of tequila slammers, the alcohol will go to the baby. If you sip a glass of wine with dinner, it won't go to the baby in any kind of significant quantity.

There is tons of evidence regarding drinking and pregnancy. A very accessible book which looks at all kinds of pregnancy advice from an evidence-based pov is Expecting Better - I would highly recommend it.

But please don't state 'I don't drink when pregnant because I wouldn't give a baby wine' unless you don't drink juice, tea, hot chocolate, water...all things that could be very harmful to a baby if you fed it to them directly!!

Watch you don't get a nose bleed from that HIGH horse you're on there Msvee

Have another Msvee

There's evidence that high-stress in preg provokes some pretty serious problems too, msvee. Though I dont think using alcohol as a stress reliever regularly is a good idea at all.

There's no proven risk with low amounts and damn, with the amount of research done - more on this subject than any other - there would be proof by now. If there is a slight risk of harm (if) then im damn sure there are other things just as risky and harmful. God, I've been told you're supposed to be careful about oven cleaner, certain sorts of paint and

People get hysterical about -a- glass every couple of weeks. There's other things to worry about more than that. Lack of appropriate exercise and making sure you have a good balanced diet for one.

I don't know what that cake thing means . Lol.

Meerka I do understand and possibly its because someone in my family has learning difficulties due to his mother drinking on the weekend. I accept that it probably had to be excessive but its made me anti any kind of drink in pregnancy so my views are based on my own experiences.

I would try and be as healthy as I could. No cappuccino for nine months never hurt nobody!

But there is such a massive difference between binge drinking every weekend and having a single glass on Christmas Day. You might as well say 'as I've given up scuba diving because it's dangerous to the baby, I won't go swimming anymore'. It's fine that you don't want to drink at all during pregnancy but to ask other women 'why take the risk?' demonstrates a real lack of understanding of the actual biological processes, much like the people equating it with feeding your baby directly from the gin bottle

ouf, yes, that would give somebody strong views :( sorry to hear it, msvee

Would you compare swimming with drinking then ?

I asked why take the risk because I genuinely want to know. In rl I don't know anyone apart from the person in my family who drunk when pregnant. But maybe they hide it. Who knows.

Anyway its just my opinion.

Thanks meerka :)

Ok chunderella isn't the point of threads like this to educate people, share experiences and knowledge?.

I wasn't talking about myself. I was talking about you and other posters.