Anyone else today's 'Observer' headlines about alcohol in pregnancy?

[atalantis]

I'm 14 weeks, and for the last 4 weeks or so I've been allowing myself one glass of lovely red wine on a Saturday night. I look forward to it every week; should I really have to stop? I'd be interested to hear your opinions...

I can't imagine French women stopping.

do you have a link to it?

link to a thread about drinking in pregnancy

I did cut out completely for the first few weeks for the 1st pregnancy, but apart from that, had 3 or 4 glasses of red each week, through both pregnancies.

found it !

i read it too this morning over breakfast... what i understood is that by telling preg women that is ok an odd glass here and there, some women are understanding that they can drink lots.

however, it is best to avoid it completely on the first 12 weeks, when the baby is being formed.

TBH..if women do not understand the dangers of binge drinking, whether in pregnancy or not, they are unlikely to listen to this advice either.....it is the women who are already aware i think, who will be most concerned about not drinking

as i said on the other thread, i didn;t drink in the first trimester, but small amounts thereafter...from time to time

great...more ammo for the pregnancy police. Glad I'm not having any more!

(but yes, I understood it to mean they're saying not to drink any in case stupid people interpret "a couple of units" as "a couple of bottles"

Yes I steered clear for first 12 weeks. (Was so sick anyway!) Now I have the odd bottle of Becks lager, prob about 2 a week if that. It's only about 4% alcohol.

I was too sick to drink anything for the first 15 weeks or so. After that I certainly enjoyed a tipple!

'Pregnancy police' ... Yawn.
That's a new one.

I hope we don't go the way of America and vilify pregnant women for doing anything vaguely risky, instead of leaving it to the woman to make an informed decision (you can't even dye your hair there without being criticised). Women who binge drink during pregnancy will do so whether the government tells them to stop it or not. Reminds me of the recent story of teenage girls who were warned smoking would stunt their babies' growth - they actually smoked more so they'd only have a small baby to give birth to! This kind of hard line can backfire.

The Observer has a habit of printing panic stories about women and drink generally, quite annoying, seem to take a Daily Mail attitude to that sort of thing (and I work for them ).

The Observer has a habit of printing panic stories about women and drink (true) - also about women and fertility. And women and their careers. And -- say, am I noticing a pattern here?

Interesting, what about the women who don,t know they are pregnant for some weeks into the 1st trimester & drink ?

That happened to me, I spent the first few weeks of pregnancy drunk at Christmas parties before I realised. Nothing I can do about it so no point worrying.

atalantis
Having one drink a week sounds fine, you are definately not excessive. But to be honest why risk it?

We would all like to enjoy a wine, but I would also rather a healthy baby. I think alcohol is far worse than nicotine as results in brain damage.

anyway plenty of people here to say they drunk and nothing wrong with their children, but again, how would they know? Maybe their child would have been smarter, have more concentration, etc, if they didn't drink anything?

'Pregnant women should look for other alternatives to relax them, like walking.'

I'm sorry but this just made be really chuckle when I read this in the article! Walk, me? At 30+4 the least relaxing thing I could think of doing is bloody walking when I feel 20x my overall body weight and also have spd to contend with! Walking anywhere is an issue for me, just the thought of it makes me want to reach for a glass of wine lol

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with having the odd one or two drinks every now and then in pregnancy. I do agree that for the first 12 weeks it should be avoided but after that I don't see the problem. I think there is far to much fuss and worry over things like this, especially when your only talking about a woman having a glass of wine once every few weeks. There are far worse things that could be done during pregnancy. I think it's more damaging just being outside breathing in all those horrible city fumes then to sit down one night and have a beer. I've allowed myself the odd tiple or two maybe once a month on a night out during my pregnancy, my babies fine and cooking away nicely with a strong heartbeat and a good set of legs to kick me with!

I think as long as you don't go overboard with alchol consumption, there's no problem. Everything in moderation and all that jazz

as a doctor this type of sensational headline really p*sses me off.
as already said those most at risk won't listen anyway, it's the occasional or moderate drinkers who feel unsure.
i went off alcohol with both my pregancies in the early weeks but started enjoying 3-4 glasses a week once in 2nd trimester and continued whilst breastfeeding.
in general the odd drink isn't going to affect most of our babies, agreed there will always be exceptions leading to the scare headlines eg "I had 1 drink whilst pregnant and my baby is harmed" but that's what they are exceptions.
when i was 9 weeks pregnant with my son, 2 days after having the dating scan, my husband had a stroke, only 42, no risk factors, nonsmoker, normal cholesterol, correct weight, regular excerise, no family history. after 6 months investigations no cause was found and we were told "shit happens". Glad to say 14 months, no recurrence and husband finally back at work full time
maybe we should write the observer and say wife having a dating scan is a risk factor for stroke?!
hope haven't offended anyone but think there are greater things to worry about than the odd glass of wine.

Sorry to do this Lwatkins

but as my last post scare you enough?

What if i mentioned the fact that baies and children arn't designed to handle alcohol, only adults bodies and brains are actually able to absorb and diffuse alcohol.

Firstly your brain is still forming up till the age of 20.

Here are some other facts from
CHILDRENS, YOUTH AND WOMEN"S HEALTH WEB SITE

Alcohol-related effects (FAE)

• Alcohol can affect physical growth and brain development throughout the whole pregnancy.
• Not all babies exposed to alcohol before birth have the facial features of FAS, but they may have very significant developmental delay and behaviour problems.
• These can include reduced attention, irritability, distractibility, and problems with memory, thinking and learning.
• The babies most likely to be affected are those who are exposed to other factors which also affect growth and development including smoking, malnutrition of the mother and use of other drugs.
• Some babies exposed to high levels of alcohol will die before they are born.

What level of alcohol is safe for babies?

• While most women who drink a little alcohol during pregnancy (one or less standard drinks a day) will have babies who have not been affected by alcohol, some babies have been affected by very small amounts of alcohol.
• Many experts strongly recommend no alcohol during pregnancy.
• However women who abuse alcohol during their pregnancy are much more likely to have babies who are affected by alcohol than women who are drinking moderately. As we do not know what a safe level of alcohol consumption is during pregnancy, less alcohol is better, but no* alcohol is the best and safest choice.

Honestly, I don't really want to scare you all, but think this is a very important issue and we owe to our babies to have all the facts. Hey and even if it is over precautious to abstain isn't that giving your baby the best start, just like taking folic acid and eating healthy

this stuff is all to make women feel guilty & it really pisses me off

I have a disabled child and a non-disabled child. I spent ages trying to identify things that I did wrong in my first pregnancy that resulted in the disability

it took me a long time to come to the conclusion for myself that, yes, shit happens and I did nothing that I could blame myself for. The things that happen to children during pregnancy are not all a woman's responsibility and this kind of scaremongering just adds to the idea that we are somehow responsible for every little bit of harm that comes to our kids in the womb

enjoy your wine. I did both times and I do not regret it

'While most women who drink a little alcohol during pregnancy (one or less standard drinks a day) will have babies who have not been affected by alcohol, some babies have been affected by very small amounts of alcohol.'

Uki you can't lump all these women together. Someone who has one drink a day and one drink a week? Surely you can't lump them all together in one sentence? That's a 6x difference!

leave the poor woman alone

sorry is 7x difference

obviously I am not very good at maths since my mother had a glass of Blue Nun in the second trimester

I find it interesting that the NHS currently tell you 1-2 units of alcohol 1-2 times a week is ok. The Portland Hospital for rich mamas tells you up to 8 units a week is fine...

The article itself says the new "guideline" if you can call it that, is aimed at people who binge-drink. I think they're just using a sledgehammer to crack the "nut" of a group of women who don't understand the dangers or binging.

I have already had "abuse" from men in my office when they heard I still drank. It's none of their business. The women serving in the canteen see fit to ask me if my lunch choices are suitable for my baby. I with they'd all just belt up. This is yet more ammo for them.

When you condider that some 300-400 years ago, women (including very wealthy ones and Royalty) were drinking very mild beer and wine (which would have been lower alcohol than we get) all through pregnancy becuase hte water wasn't safe to drink I really can't see the issue with a modern woman having the occasional drink. WHilst there aren't any figures on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome then, we do know that most babies turned out just fine, provided the mother was well nourished.

Interesting. Uki - are you medically qualified? I note that Dunscared is and doesn't recommend complete abstinence.

I was under the care of an excellent senior GP and a consultant throughout both pregnancies. One thing they both agreed was (i) that official guidelines were aimed at "lowest common denominator"; and (ii) there is no guidance at what constitutes a safe level of alcohol in pregnancy - partly because its not the sort of test that you can easily run (you know, take a control group and let them drink different amounts during pregnancy etc).

Neither of them recommended me giving up alcohol completely - both thought that a glass of wine occasionally in the evening with a meal as part of a responsible eating/drinking/lifestyle thing was absolutely fine. Both also agreed that vodka and red bull down the pub when you haven't eated any food was definitely not a good thing.

I find people who are advocating that every single person gives up every drop of alcohol in circumstances where they have no actual medical background a bit, well, off-putting. (Actually I find that kind of lecturing more than off-putting but I'm being polite here!) You know what? I didn't want to harm my baby either. But the medical advice I had was that the odd glass of wine wasn't going to do that.

Another thing - virtually everyone I know in RL and on these boards likes a glass of wine now and again. Most had the odd glass of wine when they were pregnant. I simply do not see the swathes of babies born with FAS or "brain damage" or whatever from mothers who made an informed decision to have the odd drink. Nor do I see the populations of France, Spain, Italy etc blighted by FAS etc.

Bit of a subject for me!

Of course there is now a significant control group in the UK - the children of Muslim women who never drink.

If the Muslim children are, on average, more intelligent, doing better at school, have fewer developmental problems, difficulties with concentration etc, then I might - just might - be prepared to believe there is something in this.