Alcohol when pregnant

[pigglepot]

I know the official guidance is that zero alcohol is the safest option but there hasn't been research on small amount of alcohol in pregnancy and apparently 80% of women drink something whilst pregnant.

I'm not looking for judgment here but in both of my pregnancies I've drunk a very small amount- like one small glass of wine per week sipped or a few sips on husbands glass.

What do others do and how much- be honest!

I drank a beer ever Friday from about 26 weeks with DS1 when I started craving it.

With DS2 I drank a glass of wine a few times a week with dinner after about 20 weeks.

I did my research and listened to my OBGYN 🤷🏽‍♀️

Years before I got pregnant I was of the view that the guidance was taking an overcautious approach, as there is a lack of good evidence either way around the safety of low but more than zero alcohol intake, and bearing in mind that people underreport their consumption. And I do still find this frustrating theoretically. But once I was pregnant I couldn't stomach the idea of having anything more than a sip of a champagne at a wedding. (Weddings! Remember those?)

Never drank in either. Normally I’d drink quite regularly but it wasn’t worth it for me.

No. I have also taught students with foetal alcohol syndrome before my pregnancies and after. I wouldn't do anything that carried that risk.

Didn't drink a drop whilst ttc or whilst pregnant.

@ParkheadParadise

I didn't find out I was pregnant with Dd2 until I was 5 months. I had alcohol most weekends went on several holidays drinking every night. I did tell my consultant when I discovered I was pregnant. He told me to forget about things I couldn't change. I did have a brandy n coke at 7 months to help me sleep ( doctor told dh to give me it.

really- your dr recommended this??!

@TaVeryMuchLove but you don't need to understand it. It matters not a jot what others choose to do with their bodies just as it's your choice to abstain from alcohol.

OP you don't need posters on here telling you what you should and shouldn't do. It's up to you. Whether you do or don't, it doesn't make any difference to you or us. Read the research and make a choice that you're comfortable with.

Not a drop for me, that included Christmas and my 21st birthday
its 9️⃣ months, if you cant go without alcohol for 9️⃣ months to protect your unborn child then you probably have a problem

3 children. Nothing, not even a sip, for the first 2 from when I found out I was pregnant. 3rd child- 1 sip of a cocktail when at my brothers wedding (6 months pregnant). None of my close friends have drunk in their pregnancies either.

At about 30 weeks with my eldest I had a pint of Guinness because I was craving it. Next day I had a hangover like I had been out on a pub crawl with George Best circa 1968. That was enough to make me decide not to bother in future and so I didn’t and never did with my second pregnancy either.

Had a small glass when I was a guest at weddings. Not a huge amount, I made do with alcohol free beer.

As a PP said, no ones likely to join this thread and admit to drinking regularly during their pregnancy.... I wasn't planning a pregnancy and didn't know I was pregnant for the first ten weeks (early 40s, periods never regular so assumed it was the start of the menopause), I was drinking during those ten weeks. I then genuinely didn't want any alcohol until towards the end of my pregnancy when I did have the occasional glass of wine ... a baby is highly unlikely to suffer FAS from just a few glasses of wine.

Currently pregnant with no 2. Haven't had any alcohol and didn't in my first pregnancy either. And I like my wine!

Just don't feel its worth it, I did however drink when breastfeeding. Not much at the start but definitely got more relaxed with that and prob will again.

I had approx. 1/3 glass Champagne in my second trimester at a wedding.

I'm not a regular drinker any way, I didn't miss drinking, but I enjoyed that 1/3 glass during the toast.

I drank 1-2 small glasses of wine a week.

@pigglepot a few sips or even a rare small glass I am sure is fine, PP's have mentioned they've seen FAS amongst children but I'd like to see how much their mum was actually drinking to cause this. Medical guidelines are just that, plenty of women up until the teetotal-is-best advice came out were drinking casually, that's since alcohol was discovered. You asked for a binary yes/no answer, so just read those and ignore the 'why would you wanna do a b c d e', but I guess on MN youre always going to get an add-on opinion

If you can hold the baby you can feed the baby.

Surely a bit of a low bar? 🤨

I mostly didn't drink when b/f as I was exhausted, feeding a newborn / baby on demand & therefore up a lot a night. Wine didn't seem too enticing then!

However, while I'm totally in agreement alcohol won't affect breast milk etc, I wouldn't be supportive of anyone having more than a small drink if b/f. It's not best practice when caring for a small baby, being safe, getting up at night to them, feeding & ensuring you / baby go back o sleep safely.

Again, personal choice tho. I know other people who drink more when b/f than I'd be comfortable with. Up to them.

I don't have great tolerance. So drinking very much isn't particularly sensible for me.

Listened to my OBGYN

I don't know how this would have helped. The thing with pregnancy is that no research (clinical tests) can be done on pregnant women so we don't know. So OBGYN or not, they can't offer advice on this.

Personally, I am a bit shocked by regular drinking in pregnancy.

Out of Curiosity, would everyone here who wouldn't drink alcohol during pregnancy eat food that was cooked with wine/had wine as part of its recipe?

Cooking removes the alcohol so there's no issue.

A small glass a week? Fine! That's how our continental friends do it. And no probs there.

I didn't have any alcohol (or caffeine) throughout the whole of my pregnancy. I didn't really see the point of just having a few sips or a small glass. Plus I know I would've blamed myself if something awful happened.

As a PP said, no ones likely to join this thread and admit to drinking regularly during their pregnancy

Me. I did. At the time the advice was that 1-2 units once or twice a week was fine, so I probably had a glass of wine once a week from after 12 weeks. In early labour, the midwife told me to go home and have a glass of wine to relax. This was 10 years ago and the advice has changed now but I would still have a glass if I fancied one when pregnant. There is zero evidence low to moderate drinking causes any harm, and its been studied extensively

Not a drop as soon as I knew.
I cannot fathom why anyone would bother with a “few sips”. Ridiculous

PP's have mentioned they've seen FAS amongst children but I'd like to see how much their mum was actually drinking to cause this

I know that in the training I've attended for understanding FAS we were given anonymous examples of different families who had children with FAS and they included mums who were devastated to find out there child had FAS as they had barely drank any alcohol during their pregnancy but had had some, as well as alcoholics and heavier drinkers. It may be more likely with heavier drinkers but it's definitely a possibility with just one or two drinks as well. Hence why i would just not take the risk.

This might be worth having a look at for anyone who wants to read up on this. This was shared at one of the training sessions I attended- sites.duke.edu/apep/module-5-alcohol-and-babies/content-any-amount-of-alcohol-during-pregnancy-can-result-in-fasd/

Zero. Just switched to alcohol free no problem.