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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

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 · 23/03/2004 11:32

Beansprout - smile serenly and nod your head as if it was the first time you have ever heard that bit of advice Then do what YOU feel comfortable with. Also make sure your partner is on your side, they can be the worst as it can be a constant 'should you really be eating/drinking that?'.

Another tip (please don't shoot me down here) is to avoid the NCT witches covern By all means go along to classes and getto know the people, but IMHO they were the worst at telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing and being so right on that it made me want to hurl I only went to one meeting and that was enough.

Later you need to avoid the 'competitive mother' these are usually the same people as above, who are no longer PG who now start with the 'my baby is smiling and he's only 2 hrs old!' 'what isn't your's smiling yet? well that's probably because you didn't/did do XYZ while pg'. Defineatly avoid these ones like the plauge as they infect every part of your life and leave you a weeping wailing mess on the floor of imperfect motherhood

Bear in mind PG police are also tempered with the b'tards who won't give up a seat for you on trains and buses and seem to delight in letting doors slam in the face - so it's not all people looking after your welfare you know

beansprout · 23/03/2004 12:10

Thanks Crunchie - very sound advice and appreciated. You gave me so much food for thought, I have started a separate strand on this one!!

beachyhead · 25/03/2004 10:26

Must admit - am having about one and a half glasses at least three times a week and am 10 weeks pregnant..... but it is my third! But what's all this about peanuts? Why can't I eat peanuts? Is this a new thing... Agree about the pregnancy police - am going to avoid them this time and not tell anyone until I am as fat as a house. Must admit - feeling sick and not drinking wine - I've actually lost weight in the last 6 weeks. Good diet, this pregnancy lark!!!

motherinferior · 25/03/2004 10:40

You're supposed not to eat peanuts in case it sets up allergies in the baby.

At least we can now use computers while up duff. Remember when it was all LCD panic?

beachyhead · 25/03/2004 10:46

Thanks for the peanut info... I'd love to tell my boss I couldn't use the computer for 6 months!

Mum2Ela · 25/03/2004 10:56

Can someone clarify the peanut info for me. I have not been eating them but my midwife said it was ok because I don't have any allergies in my family. But can it cause allergies?

eddm · 25/03/2004 11:03

The peanuts thing is only if you've got allergies in the family. And it's not based on any evidence, just a 'may as well be on the safe side' guess. Stuff that anyway - I'm a veggie so I needed the protein. There's a theory that peanut allergy may be because peanut butter used to be a popular weaning food. And apparently peanuts are relatively new food in this country, brought over by the Yanks in WW2. Love the pregnancy police idea, if I get the job I've applied for will commission you!

hercules · 25/03/2004 11:12

Peanuts are to be avoided mainly if you have this allergy in your family. In America peanuts are eaten whilst pregnant and they dont have a higher rate of the al;lergy.

M2T · 25/03/2004 11:15

Yup, I'm avoiding peanuts like the plague as I have asthma, hay fever, food intolerance and allergies!! So do my Brothers... and my son has excema...

No peanuts for me!

But if there are no allergies/asthma in the family then I don't think it matters much.

madgirl · 25/03/2004 12:12

just like to let everyone on this thread know that for supper last evening i had salami and prosciutto CRUDO and other delicious things last night from the CHILLED FOOD deli counter and sank it with a LARGE glass of chardonnay.

M2T · 25/03/2004 12:20

NEEE NAW NEEEE NAW NEEE NAW!!

kbaby · 25/03/2004 19:47

I didnt drink much in the 1st 3 months and since then Ive probably had the odd one or two, think I had a glass of wine at xmas and new year and the odd cider when I went out. Although Ive read everyones threads about not drinking spirits and I went to a friends hen night and as a treat had 2 bottles of barcardi breezer, i'd read that 4 units of alcohol per week were ok and they had 2 units each. Surely thats ok as its not as if im drinking every weekend.

dinosaur · 26/03/2004 12:02

madgirl - in answer to your question I didn't drink for the first 14-15 weeks, but since then have had 1-2 small glasses of beer or wine, one or two times a week

dinosaur · 26/03/2004 12:04

p.s. I saw an article recently (in the Guardian, where else) on FAS which suggested that you would really have to try quite hard to give your baby FAS

pollingfold · 26/03/2004 14:54

I was all convinced that being pregnant meant no alcohol full stop all the way through, but at my 12 week appointment the mw asked how many units I was drinking to which I replied none. She laughed and said of course you can have a drink - 1/2 units a couple of times a week. Ever since then haven't looked back. In second pregnancy happily sipping glass of wine when I want.

Tommy · 26/03/2004 15:20

The advice changes a lot! My sister was told not to drink at all when she was pregnant (18 years ago) but that 1 or 2 cigarettes wouldn't hurt (!) I was told 3 years ago that I could drink "as if I was driving" which I thought was very helpful - not least because I had my hen night, wedding and honeymoon when I was pregnant

nmd · 27/03/2004 15:44

My doctor said you'd really have to be drinking a lot, practically to alcoholic levels, to cause FAS. I completely went off alcohol of any description in 1st pg but had a glass of wine practically every night in 2nd pg with absolutely no problems (dd2 is 4). Still not too keen on red wine though since 1st pg and it used to be my favourite drink

MrsGrump · 27/03/2004 18:11

I would have guessed that contrary to what some people are saying here drinking heavily in the first trimester would barely matter at all, but drinking no more than a little bit in 3rd trimester is quite important. Because most of the fetal brain development and FAS is basically a brain development problem, right? is in the 3rd trimester. FAS is specifically, traditionally associated with heavy drinking in the 3rd trimester, I thought the evidence was weak at best about lots of alcohol being bad in the rest of pregnancy. Yes the fetus is forming in 1st trimester, but electricity to run the brain doesn't even turn on until... is it about 10 weeks?
Not saying I believe that binge-drinking is good idea at any point in pregnancy, but just would have thought it's 3rd trimester not first trimester when we should be most careful.

Toots · 27/03/2004 19:02

In response to Katierocket's suggestion (paraphrased) that you'll be OK as long as you're not mainlining crack....I'd just like to say I don't think there's anything wrong with the odd nice big rock, particularly after the first three months . I was on a ward at King's with someone who'd go and get a crack fix every night at about 3. It didn't do her, or her baby any harm (crosses eyes, falls off chair - oh my eyes, you should have seen them!)

luckymum · 27/03/2004 19:21

Drinking before you even know you're pg, ie before 6 weeks is pretty dangerous. The heart and other major organs are formed at this time and I know the damage it can cause. I blame myself for dd's heart condition as I had a few too many one night when I was (unknown to me) about 3 weeks pg. If you're ttc, don't drink, its not worth it.

Heathcliffscathy · 27/03/2004 19:25

luckymum, i think you're being very harsh on yourself...i read that the critical time is 8 to 16 weeks and that most women have a couple of benders when they don't know they are pregnant...i think self-blame like this is really dangerous...you can't ever know what caused your little one's problem...

luckymum · 28/03/2004 10:01

Sophable.thanks for the support. Just a bad day yesterday, things got the better of me and the guilt took over. I know there are lots of reasons and we were just unlucky. Apart from that one blip I was much more careful with this pregnancy than the others. With the other two I drank in moderation, ate liver and soft cheese, and pate and pre washed salad all the things they now tell you not to and both ds's were fine. Go with the flow

MrsGrump · 28/03/2004 11:24

DS was unplanned... I was taking mefenamic acid (prescription only) for very bad period pains at the time, waiting for the AF that never appeared. Since then I've read Mefenamic acid can cause kidney deformities in the fetus; guess what, DS has odd kidneys! Functional, just unusual. Maybe no women of childbearing age should be allowed to have that, either.

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