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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

alcohol and pregnancy

73 replies

vivie · 22/03/2004 14:24

Hi,
Does anyone know a sensible limit for alcohol consumption during pregnancy? I realise that ideally one wouldn't drink booze at all, but a girl's got to live...... a bit. Should we drink less early in pregnancy?
Thankyou!

OP posts:
Crunchie · 22/03/2004 16:58

Katierocket, I asssume your WHAT?! was in reaction to the never been pg woman telling me what to eat

Personally I was under the impression a happy and relaxed mum to be was far more healthy than a stress bunny, hence I drank a bit of wine. I mus say I went right off Chardonnay, which I always drank pre-pregnancy and could only drink 'lighter' white wine. I still can't stand Chardonnay

MrsGrump · 22/03/2004 17:16

I have seen a lot of studies using regression analysis (Danish and US, maybe British, too) that treat alcohol as a linear baddie -- the more you drink, starting from the tiniest amounts, the lower the birthweight, IQ or whatever they are predicting. They come up with statistically significant relationships (if you believe in stats), so maybe any alcohol truly is bad, but....
I still drink (a little) when pregnant, too. And eat peanuts. And even gasp unpasteurised cheese, sometimes. Pregnancy is so hard without the little pleasures. I have given up on getting it all perfect.

prufrock · 22/03/2004 17:37

I want a drink. I want a drink.

I did drink throughout my first pregnancy - in fact I was very worried when I found I had a liver disorder that it could have been caused by my drinking, so I asked my doctor. He said it could be a contributing factor, and asked how much. When I admitted to 11 glasses of champagne in 7 months he burst out laughing and told me not to be so ridiculous.

But now that my liver is playing up again I figure it's safer not to drink, and have also cut out caffiene. And I am the grumpiest cow imaginable. I dream about an ice cold beer....

fio2 · 22/03/2004 17:43

i love champagne

katierocket · 22/03/2004 17:54

yes crunchie. it was

GillW · 22/03/2004 19:28

Heard on the radio tonight that Tesco's are recruiting pregnant women as wine tasters (although you are apparently not supposed to swallow it) on the basis that pregnancy enhances your sense of taste. See here for details.

motherinferior · 22/03/2004 19:38

I always swallow.

Sorry, couldn't resist chance for childish fnar fnar.

Ghosty · 22/03/2004 20:05

In NZ alcohol in pregnancy is a definite no no ...
In the Bounty Pregnancy book it even says that one drink during pregnancy can cause FAS ...
Well, b@ll@x to that quite franky I say!!
I stopped drinking whilst pregnant purely because I suffered from heartburn and even the tiniest sip of wine burned my gullet ... The only thing that didn't do that was champagne ... the real stuff ... so I only had that at christmas and new year
However ... now that DD is here I am on the sauce again ...
A glass of wine a night doesn't affect breastmilk too much does it????

WideWebWitch · 22/03/2004 22:27

Well Ghosty, I am also in the mumsnet book saying oh ffs, surely one glass of wine doesn't cause FAS. It definitely doesn't. Fnar fnar MI!

madgirl · 23/03/2004 08:34

calling all pregnant women on mumsnet- please tell me you are drinking 1/2 units a week once/twice a week? if only to make it a happy tuesday for me

WideWebWitch · 23/03/2004 08:48

Madgirl, not pregnant now but did drink that amount (well, a bit more actually) during both pregnancies. Ds, now 6.5, is fine; dd, now 4 months also appears fine. Happy Tuesday

Bozza · 23/03/2004 09:04

I drink 1-2 glasses of wine sometimes twice a week, sometimes nothing for 2-3 weeks. Last pg resulted in 9 lb 10 oz DS who is now a very bright, inquisistive 3 year old, and this pg I am getting sick of being asked how long I've got to go, am I sure I'm not having twins etc so not too worried about FAS.

M2T · 23/03/2004 09:18

I had a couple glasses of red wine when we went out for the evening once a fortnight when I was pregnant with my ds. This time my heartburn has been too awful to contemplate it!

Sip of delicious Chardonnay...... followed by a large gulp of Gaviscon isn't appealing!

BUT .... I don't see any harm in it. And if it wasn't for the heartburn then I'd probably indulge in a couple of units a week.

Abstaining from any alcohol consumption has been an important aid in me quitting smoking this time. Haven't had a fag for 12 wks now and feel fab.

MeanBean · 23/03/2004 10:06

I think the alcohol guidance is not medical at all, but social. Pregnancy is the one time in your life when suddenly it becomes acceptable to tell you what to do, what to eat, what to wear, how to act, etc., and the world seizes on it - suddenly everyone turns into the Daily Mail! The idea that one glass of wine can call FAS is absolutely outrageous - not just wrong, but vicious - whoever is publishing this rubbish should be strung up, because they are not doing it to be helpful to pregnant women, but to make them feel guilty.

A friend of mine who is a paediatrician believes that there is a strong genetic component in FAS, as it seems to run in families, and also, that you have to try really really really hard to give a baby FAS - like drinking a bottle of gin a day, which apparantly Anne Robinson did when she was pregant and still had a healthy child.

I found that my body actually worked - it told me when I'd had enough coffee, wine etc.- funnily enough I didn't need the pregnancy police directing my every move - and I'm sure that unless you're an addict, most women's bodies do the job just fine themselves, although they will all do it differently, because we are all different and have different threshholds etc.

M2T · 23/03/2004 10:09

A fine post Meanbean!

CountessDracula · 23/03/2004 10:13

Meanbean I found the same thing, I knew when I'd had enough and never wanted more than a couple of small glasses of wine.

We were out one night in the pub with a mate who's a doctor and I had had my 2 glasses (was about 7 months pg at the time) and he said (drunkenly) that once the first 3 months was gone it basically didn't matter how much you drank (don't think he was talking in realms of a bottle of gin a day, within reason). He went and bought me another glass of wine and I did try and drink it but it gave me instant heartburn! So I think your body does know.

hmb · 23/03/2004 10:16

An n of 1 so statiticians would laugh at me, but I drank very small amounts on both pgs and both my kids are fine.

I have never seen good evidence to show that one drink can cause FAS. When I was pg with dd (my first) I read a meta analysis of studies that showed that moderate consumption 1-2 a week had no statisticaly significant effect.

If one drink can cause FAS how is France, Spain and Italy not packed with people with FAS??

Crunchie · 23/03/2004 10:20

MeanBean how true, I think Mumsnet should campaign for an end to the pregnancy police We should encourage all the lovely journos we know to start writing articles about it, and to stop with the b**y scare stories. You only have to read most of the pg threads on this board to see that there is so much conflicting advice on what we can or cannot eat/drink/wear/do etc that it is crazy. We should make a stand for the normal women, everything in moderation - or is it just such a boring story??? We could do a comparrison of two pg women one living by the 'rules' and one not - that would be funny, trying to ask in restaurants about the ingredients of particular dishes, looking at EVERY label in the supermarket, wearing gloves to stroke the cat (or whatever), not dyeing hair... I could go on... YOU CANNOT LIVE LIKE THAT IT WOULD BE S*T

WOW ranting this early in the morning, I need my soapbox

fio2 · 23/03/2004 10:22

I know an alchoholic who gave birth to 2 children with FAs, she was drinking bottles of spirits a day. I know of another alchoholic who drank 6 bottles of wine a day and her children were completely normal (maybe emotionally crucified though, but thats another story)

Personally I never touched a drop when pregnant with my daughter but drank a couple of times a week with ds after the first 3 months. Within the last month I think I had a glass of wine with my tea every night. My Mums generation were not told to stop drinking and did what they liked, this is what she tells me anyway.

Isnt there a genetic link with FAS anyway? I think you have to have genetic counselling to get a diagnosis of it.

motherinferior · 23/03/2004 10:23

Crunchie, brilliant idea. You are so fab. Shall we both get up duff to do it? You can be the virtuous one

Listen, nobody wants my sodding story on the state of maternity services in the UK, pah, rant, rave, you think you've got problems, oh no wrong thread

piglit · 23/03/2004 10:25

LOL motherinferior!!

Crunchie · 23/03/2004 11:01

Stuff that MI, you know me better to think I would be the virtuous one

Seriously I am thinking a feature ranting against the Pregnancy Police, how us women become public property and are subject to continual scare stoires designed to make us neurotic. At least here on MN I have a captive audience.

M2T · 23/03/2004 11:15

lol re Pregnancy Police!

I had a woman tell me that I'd had "quite enough" when I had 2 small glasses of red wine at a Millenium party when I was 4mths pg with ds!!! I was watering it down with soda water so it probably looked like I'd had 4, but STILL!!! Cheeky witch. I had never met her before that night.

It's not just pregnancy police though..... it's PARENTING police! I posted on here ages ago about a friend who was pregnant with her 1st baby. She was a NIGHTMARE! Constantly reading books and telling me I was bringing my ds up all wrong. She nearly crashed her car when I told her he loved baked beans (he was nearly 2).

"THINK OF THE SALT!!" She shrieked.

CountessDracula · 23/03/2004 11:19

LOL M2T - always makes me chortle when non-parents give you their views on child raising. I just pray for them to have some of their own and see how they get on!

beansprout · 23/03/2004 11:21

M2T - a friend of mine is having exactly the same thing. Her friend was in maternity clothes at 6 weeks into her first pg, and won't stop telling my mate what she should/should not be doing! Arrrgghhh!

I'm 11+4 into my first pg and am frankly dreading the "public property" stage. All tips gratefully received!!