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Pregnancy

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

Original poster

Alcohol while pregnant - completely abstain or small amount v occasionally?

79 replies

SnakesBarmitzvah · 23/04/2019 10:05

I've scoured NHS and Web MD for this and advice seems to vary, opinions with my friends are also divisive.

Would you treat yourself to a small amount of booze (ie 1 glass of champagne or a small glass of wine) very occasionally, ie once or twice throughout your whole pregnancy?

Or completely abstain 100%?

Just to clarify - I haven't drank a single drop in my pregnancy so far, but I would like to have a small glass of something on my birthday which is roughly half way.

OP posts:
Cookit · 23/04/2019 10:11

I abstain but I don’t think there’s anything wrong in the occasional small glass.
Have you read Expecting Better? It’s quite good and goes through all the things you “can’t” do and looks at the research behind it.
Really the only reason I abstain is that I have no interest in half a glass of wine.. I’ll drink again post baby when I can have 2!

welshsoph · 23/04/2019 10:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

xJune88 · 23/04/2019 10:13

I've had a sip or 2 in this whole pregnancy I'm now 37+1, i was a massive drinker so i enjoy the alchohol free ciders haha but midwife actually said to me having one small glass of wine a week will do no harm and if it helps with stress and anxiety just have one. Obviously I'm not saying drink and it's safe but I'm sure a couple throughout the whole pregnancy wouldn't hurt x

Leleophants · 23/04/2019 10:16

It depends how much you're going to worry from now onwards if anything goes wrong. Alcohol is technically a poison and if it's even making you tipsy, it's doing a lot more to a fetus. Saying that, if you drink plenty of watet and flush it out I'm sure a few sips is no worse than someone who eats very badly. Maybe don't tell yourself you can't but see how you feel. It might be you don't fancy it anyway!

Ivy44 · 23/04/2019 10:18

I had a wedding and a couple of birthdays during my last pregnancy. I had a small glass of wine topped up with a lot of soda water at all 3. Meant that I could feel part of the celebration.

That said, I went to Ibiza for a long weekend, before I knew I was pregnant, drank every day for 4 days. DC is fine but I was horrified when I found out I was pregnant and had had that much to drink. Midwife said not to worry as that’s quite common.

BlingLoving · 23/04/2019 10:18

There is no point posting this. You will be inundated with people telling you it's fine and people telling you it's not, with lots of judgement and comments on how you are a bad mother if you do and an uptight mother if you don't. Do your own research and make a decision. Books like the one from Emily Oster are good to provide proper data-based facts on which to make your decision.

Ivy44 · 23/04/2019 10:20

As in it’s quite common for people to drink, before they realise they are pregnant. Not drink cocktails for 4 days in a row once they know they are pregnant!

Daffodil2018 · 23/04/2019 10:23

I drank the occasional glass of wine throughout my pregnancy - probably 1 a week max (although not at all during the first trimester). I agree it’s worth reading the Emily Ostler book.

PlinkPlink · 23/04/2019 10:24

Yeah before I found out I was pregnant with DS, we'd been to a family get together and had a few glasses.
DS is totally fine and midwife told us not to worry. It's quite common when you dont know until your missed period.

I did try a glass on our anniversary whilst I was pregnant too but I just didn't like it. Baby was telling me quite clearly he didn't like it so I had a sip and that was it.

A small one on a special occasion should be ok. But on a personal level though, when baby no.2 pops along, I know I won't be. Fake alcohol will do me 😂😂 they've got plenty of alcohol free stuff these days - Kopparberg, alcohol free wine etc.

mynameiscalypso · 23/04/2019 10:41

Totally agree with @BlingLoving. It's either something you do or you don't do. I personally have read around the subject and have decided the risk of the odd drink here and there is minimal. I didn't drink in the first trimester although that was mainly sickness related but have add a glass of wine/champagne every couple of weeks since.

user1467718508 · 23/04/2019 10:46

I've been having the occasional glass of fizz/wine/half of Guinness.

As long as it's been with food and I've not felt tipsy, then I personally am comfortable with the risks.

I don't judge those who choose to cut out alcohol completely, and likewise hope I'm not being judged for making my own choice.

Ragwort · 23/04/2019 10:47

Make your own decision.

I genuinely didn’t know I was pregnant for the first ten weeks (was of menopausal age & assumed my periods were just slowing down and had no other symptoms). I was drinking my usual glass or two of wine most nights for that ten weeks.

When my pregnancy was confirmed I did cut right back but maybe had a glass of wine at weekends.

Only you can decide what’s right for you and how much it will ‘worry’ you if you do have a drink. The quality and range of non alcoholic wine, prosecco, cider etc is much better these days so that might be another option.

DennisSkinnersMolotov · 23/04/2019 10:51

I didn't drink in the first trimester this time around, I'm 19 weeks now and have had a few small glasses of wine (on separate occasions) in the last few weeks. Mostly I don't fancy it though, which is a shock as I usually love a drink or 3.

First time round I didn't know I was pregnant until I was 9 weeks - I'd had some issues post miscarriage and had been on medication so no regular periods. In that 9 weeks I had a couple of very boozy weekend involving a LOT of rum. Later in my pregnancy I'd have the odd glass of wine.

As others have said, it's a judgement call.

Original poster
SnakesBarmitzvah · 23/04/2019 10:53

@BlingLoving Thanks for your response. Almost all 12 responses have said they would drink v occasionally. I'm just after a general consensus. Of course its ultimately my decision.

I did start to read Expecting Better but I found it incredibly boring and not relevant to pregnancy - maybe because it was the first pregnancy book I picked up (on MN recommendation) and wanted actual pregnancy advice - not risk assessment with comparisons to housing markets etc. Confused Wouldn't recommend it.

OP posts:
Original poster
SnakesBarmitzvah · 23/04/2019 10:55

@PlinkPlink Yeah maybe I'll take a long awaited sip and find I've gone off it too!

The alcohol free wines I've had are ming, but I have a new found appreciation for soft drinks such as elderflower presse, appletiser, etc. I've been drinking that from a wine glass this weekend at BBQs and it's been nice.

OP posts:
EmeraldRubyShark · 23/04/2019 11:06

Abstain. The NHS recommends abstaining completely as there’s no evidence it doesn’t harm the baby having a small amount yet there is evidence alcohol in general can cause fetal harm. I just think why would you risk it? I love drinking but while pregnant I’ll be teetotal the whole way through (and I was teetotal while TTC in case I did get pregnant) because I just don’t think it’s worth the risk for something so unecessary that you can easily do without for the duration of pregnancy.

outpinked · 23/04/2019 11:07

Always abstained, alcohol isn’t important to me though.

secretlyhermione · 23/04/2019 11:09

I personally have decided to abstain completely, also because I really don't feel like any alcohol at all. I have 5 weddings throughout my pregnancy but have already had occasions where everyone has been drinking and I've stuck to the good old apple juice! As everyone has said, it's ultimately your decision. I prefer to be risk-averse and also don't mind not drinking throughout these 9 months. Then again I'm also abstaining from coffee and I know most pregnant women drink it - so absolutely to each their own!

Flamingosnbears · 23/04/2019 11:13

Abstain. It's nine months.

Bambamber · 23/04/2019 11:14

I don't aim to abstain 100% but I generally find I lose the taste for it in pregnancy. When I got married I was given a glass of champagne but only had a sip or two before I gave it to my husband. I found it took several months after giving birth before I felt like even a small drink. I'm the same again in this pregnancy too

EmeraldRubyShark · 23/04/2019 11:14

I’m curious to those who have the odd small glass, why? Is it that you like the taste so much and no other drink compares for you? Most people drink not just for the taste but to get a bit of a buzz or feel the sedative effects for relaxation and during pregnancy surely you’d either be drinking so little you don’t feel a thing from it (in which case is the taste really enough reason to risk it?) or enough that you’ve drank way above a minimal level?

Not judging, just really curious.

Some good info here www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/alcohol-medicines-drugs-pregnant/

Experts are unsure how much alcohol is completely safe. The alcohol might feel like it’s not affecting you but the effect on your baby is far more drastic given that their liver is one of the last organs to fully develop. Drinking in the first trimester is a risk factor for miscarriage and premature birth. Given that there’s no known safe amount I find it difficult to understand why someone would take that risk for something like one glass of alcohol that they can pick up again later on. I can understand people who are alcoholics more, they’re addicted which is a very hard thing to overcome, but if you don’t have an alcohol issue surely it’s doable to abstain for nine months?

Sorry if I sound judgmental, I really don’t judge the individual who makes that decision, i just would like to understand why someone would if they have the knowledge that’s available.

daphine2004 · 23/04/2019 11:15

Abstained in first pregnancy, bar a few sips of red on my 30th. This time I’ve had a few white wine spritzers - think four in total mans from home, so wine in a large tumbler!

My best drink for the summer has been a bravarian alcohol free lager with lemonade for a lager shandy. Sainsbury’s also do a lovely alcohol free champagne. I agree the other wines are far too sweet!

EmeraldRubyShark · 23/04/2019 11:17

I’ve had a few occasions so far while pregnant where everyone else has been drinking and weirdly enough because I decided to abstain it hasn’t bothered me. If I felt unable to decline a Stella for a lime and soda while growing a baby I would question whether I had a problem with drink. I’m finding the abstinence from caffeine much harder as I used to drink cans of Monster but have gone abstinent on that too, but again, it’s a decision I’m making in my baby’s interests for the short period of time they’re wholly dependent on me for everything. But I’ve wanted this baby for quite a long time and was told it’d be difficult to get pregnant so the stakes feel really high for me and I don’t want to do anything to cause them harm.

daphine2004 · 23/04/2019 11:20

I probably need to clarify the ratio of wine to mixer! It wasn’t a full tumbler of wine.

@EmeraldRubyShark I like the taste of alcohol, so don’t drink it for relaxation, but a glass of red with a meal is lovely, as is a refreshing lager shandy on a hot day.

I personally haven’t drank any spirited whilst pregnant and wouldn’t, but decided on alcohol free lager for the lager shandy and diluted the white wine leftover from a risotto to have with the meal.

It’s all down to personal choice and it’s very easy to judge, particularly if someone is ‘living it large’ at eight months 😱

jcq17 · 23/04/2019 11:20

I have had half a glass of fizz 3
Times in the 27 weeks so far. I don't feel
Guilty and I know people who have drank a lot more than that. There's so many rules and regulations during pregnancy that if you fancy a small drink I say go for it.

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