Am I the only one who has a drink?

[oneconfusedchick]

Hi,

Sorry if this is a bit random but I was wondering whether anyone else has continued to drink through pregnancy. Please don't get me wrong I do not mean drink a lot but I have 1-2 units once a week on a Friday. I feel like I am the only one that does this! I did this with first pregnancy who is now a healthy and happy 2 year old!

I do worry though that I can't seem to find many people who still enjoy a small weekly drink!

x

I'm struggling to keep mine a secret during Xmas party season :( I only found out last week, I'm about 5 weeks. I've been having shandys but 3/4 lemonade and topped off with a beer to make it look like it should. Thankfully pubs are dark places so you can't really see its lighter. With Xmas meals I've been having a small wine and drinking shit loads of water. Once this party seasons done there will be nothing (cooking Xmas day so no one will notice and they'll be pissed by time we're done eating), by the end of January if it's all gone well I'll be 12 weeks. I'd have a glass of wine on a Saturday when snuggled on the sofa once no doubt. Each to their own. I respect both sides

I'm always fascinated by the difference between actual and perceived risk. I wonder how many of the 'just not worth the risk'-ers choose to get in a car, breath in polluted air in the city, or carry out other 'unnecessary' everyday actions without thinking about the jeopardy they are putting their unborn child in? It's definitely a case of doing what you're comfortable with (your body, your choice), but as PPs have said it's completely wrong to make others feel guilty about their choices because your perception of risks are skewed.
FWIW I stopped drinking initially once I found out I was pregnant both times, and with DD had the occasional drink once I was out of the first tri. I finish the first tri this weekend with this baby so will enjoy a small glass of something fizzy on Christmas day and NYE. I've also continued to eat some things I'm not supposed to, not had the flu jab (although I'll get the whooping cough one) and drive a car or van most days. They are all levels of risk I am comfortable with.
Also just wanted to reiterate what a previous poster said: correlation is not causation. It's so important to remember this.

Implying that someone's baby was born stillborn because of a few units of alcohol during pregnancy is fucking vile.

I can only comment on my own experience and ultimately a mother has to decide for herself but a quick Google revealed there are links between alcohol and an increased risk of stillbirth/premature birth/low birth weight.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stillbirth/Pages/Causes.aspx

For those that prefer UK advice/information.

I have lost 3 babies. After the 2nd mc (twins) I did my own research and as a result of what I learned (ex HCP so got a fair idea of which sites to trust) from studies that had been done in America, Canada and Scandinavia I made the decision to have no alcohol, no caffeine and as few additives as possible as soon as ttc dd.

I accept the risk is small and my experience coloured my perception but I've also known friends that have had pregnancy complications during multiple pregnancies but that have continued to drink, albeit moderately. I would never say anything to them but I have wondered if not drinking would have made their pregnancies easier/less likely to have the complications.

One friend had several mc late ones as unbeknown to her the babies had a rare condition that meant their blood was too thin so they were haemorrhaging in the womb while developing. Yes this was the cause and that was resolved but if your baby has a similar but less severe form of a condition like this and you don't know, then consume alcohol too which also thins the blood...its a cumulative thing yes?

I'm an old fart now but I can remember people my age thinking it perfectly OK to 'only' have 20 cigarettes a day while pregnant. I don't think that would be seen as acceptable now.

Nobody is perfect. I don't smoke and I didn't drink that much beforehand so it hasn't been much of a hardship to stop entirely. Likewise, I've 'obeyed' the rules on what not to eat (first pregnancy). Yet I have not exercised or ate particularly healthy. We are just human

Funny that fizzy i think someone that name calls is pretty vile!

Baconyum
Well said.

I don't really want a drink but I'm only 8+4 and feel pretty sick a lot of the time. Maybe I"ll want the odd bottle of beer at summer bbq's near the end. I think you can have 1 or 2 units once a week and be perfectly fine, I think the problem is that people think this means 1 or 2 drinks instead of units. I was at my booking in appointment and was really surprised that my midwife told me I could have a drink on Christmas day if I liked.

I'd never take the risk as the latest studies suggest that the baby receives exactly the same amount of alcohol as is present in your blood.

I feel squiffy after one glass of wine (pre-pregnancy) so imagine how a baby would be feeling

Also, if anything happened I'd blame myself.

Baconyum that's terrible that your friend suffered several miscarriages, but by your logic: Some pregnant women are involved in road traffic accidents, some of which result in the loss of the foetus. Should all pregnant women therefore abstain from car journeys, as really they are unnecessary and just not worth the risk?
With cigarettes there is very clear evidence it causes much harm. With moderate drinking (unlike heavy drinking, which no one here is advocating), there isn't. Caffeine is interesting as it seems to be an instance of correlation - groups of women who are unable to stomach it (rather than choosing not to drink it) have lower instances of mc than those who's stomach allows them to drink it. I highly recommend 'Expecting Better' by Emily Oster too as was mentioned by a PP, it gives you an idea of actual risk so you can form your own opinion of which risks you are comfortable with.

What is the official advice then because I'm on DC3 and each time ive been told it's not ok, or its ok to have 1-2. This time I got told current advice is zero tolerance. I read the nice guidelines someone posted up thread and that says that drinking in first trimester has a risk of miscarriage, but 1-2 units thereafter. No hcp has ever told me that. It also says 'new' by the advice so presumably some study has been done and they've updated the guidelines. But from what I don't know.

I'm thinking that HCP who have been practicing for years may not know this new guideline?

Urgh, if there was just some bloody consistency from HCP I wouldn't feel like I have to be some internet researcher trying to wade through old facts, new facts and pure fiction.

Xmas next week do I risk a sherry? Probably not but owing to a history of high ALT that make my consultant twitchy as it is. But I will be 35 weeks and crikey one sherry at Christmas would be a self indulgent treat. I don't actually get many opportunities for them...

And as for driving risks, actually having been in a RTA as a child I don't really like going in cars very much and I am pretty twitchy about it. So I do actively put driving off if I can especially as pregnant. travelling in a car is actually quite risky if you think about it!

Isn't it all about balance? I've been eating a pretty perfect diet (I'm very lucky that I haven't felt sick at all), I go to the gym 3/4 times a week, don't smoke, but have had a couple of small glasses of wine most weekends. There are lots of risks in pregnancy-being overweight, being underweight, smoking, taking drugs, eating the wrong things, then lots of things which you have no control over, such as getting ill, underlying health problems, accidents.

Baconyum - the "link" between stillbirth and alcohol consumption is based on a Danish study from 2002, in which the correlation between stillbirth and drinking in pregnancy was only seen in women who consumed more than five drinks a week. Nobody is advocating that here.

In both of my pregnancies, my midwife has told me that one or two units once or twice a week is fine. There is absolutely no evidence to prove otherwise.

Unlike, say, smoking or having a very high BMI, which are proven to increase risk.

One friend had several mc late ones as unbeknown to her the babies had a rare condition that meant their blood was too thin so they were haemorrhaging in the womb while developing

That is a pretty odd example to use, given that thousands of women are told to take aspirin to thin their blood while pregnant, as it is proven to prevent miscarriages.
Go and have a look at the miscarriage threads and see how many women are prescribed injectable blood thinners by their doctors

captain I am 24 wks, in my maternity notes I have an nhs pamphlet about healthy eating in pregnancy, foods to avoid and stuff thst is good for you etc. It says if you want to 1-2units alcohol no more than twice a week. I am not drinking anywhere near thst,have had two small ciders this pregnancy and will probably ly have a small drink over Xmas.

This is my ninth preg, have five children and have had three early miscarriages. I don't drink in the first trimester so not drinking didn't stop me miscarying the pregnancies I lost. I have easy pregnancies, no complications and have good size babies, ranging from my smallest at 8lb to biggest at 10lb 13oz. This pregnancy is proving to be exactly the same as my others so far, fingers crossed it stays that way.

Re risk of driving

I'm trying to find the article, but I read something recently in which one of the Colleges (possibly Obs Gyn, but may have been midwives) said 'total abstinence' advice is causing harm, because there has been a very significant number of women who find out they are pregnant at 8+ weeks, having been drinking up until then, who want to terminate the pregnancy, because they are so, so worried by all the 'any drop of alcohol will harm your baby' advice they find online.

Given how much emphasis there is on evidence based medicine, especially in pregnancy and birth, some doctors are very uncomfortable with giving instructions that aren't based on any evidence, but based instead on what is simplest for those silly little women to understand

Pressed post too soon, re driving, I don't drive, I cycle everywhere and still am doing. I cycled throughout my other pregnancies, often pulling a trailer with two kids in it! At the moment I am cycling with my five year old on a tag a long attached to my bike to school every day. I feel fine doing this. I have stopped running though as it puts a strain on your pelvic floor when pregnant and because my placenta is slightly low so I decided with medical advice that it wasn't worth the risk. That was my choice, others would choose differently which is fine by me. Your body, your choice.

spare I have seen report saying the same.

Exactly, 5madthings. I did v similar physical activity to you from the sounds of it. But I chose to stop cycling at around 20 weeks - because I'm not that confident on my bike in the city at the best of times and was getting wobblier - and continued running as long as I could. Your body, your choice.
Everyone should make the decisions which are best for them and not judge others who choose differently.
Especially when that judgement involves scaremongering, which as sparechange says, can and does result in real harm.

Yes it's all about choice and making an I.formed choice for yourself.

Interestingly on my ante natal thread on mnet there is discussion re hair dye. An American poster has been told by her obgyn not to dye her hair.... The advice in the UK is its fine though patch test first as you are slightly more likely to have an allergic reaction. I don't dye my hair, not because I worry re the baby but because I have eczema including on my scalp and am quite allergic anyway... So for me it's not worth the risk of the reaction. If I wasn't so allergic my hair would totally be a funky purple colour! Advice varies, it's not black and white and you can only do what feels right for you. No point worrying or being judgemental about what others do.

5Mad
There was another thread in 'pregnancy' recently by a poster who had drunk a glass of fresh orange juice and then found some advice on a (guess what!) American site saying you should only drink pasterised longlife juice, and not fresh juice.
You can drive yourself perfectly mad if you were to try and follow every single bit of guidance from all countries. I'm sure the Australian/French/German advice has got some contradictions as well

Ha the only thing I drank in the early stages if this pregnancy was fresh orange juice, literally loads of it everyday. It's expensive as well! My concern with the amount I drank was more to do with blood sugar levels and the calories in it, about 200 in a glass and I was having five a day? That's a lot of calories!

Didn't until 12 weeks now might average 1 small glass wine a week. Definitely having a glass bubbly at my office party today and again on xmas day & NY eve. Then probs will have a pretty dry Jan.

AverageSnowflake01 yes tiramisu contains liqueur and also high proportion of strong coffee/espresso so a glass of wine a week probably more "safe" than eating that