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 had a very small glass of fizz on special occasions, and the odd weak shandy in the summer, but that was probably it.
Definitely wouldn't have touched spirits!

I was too scared to drink. After years of infertility and ivf I wouldn't chance it. The best advice I got was to take the path of least regret. That stick with me. I wasn't a big drinker so it wasn't hard to give up alcohol

I havent drunk at all yet, however Im going to my friends hen party when I'll be in the third trimester and I will probably have a sip of prosecco to celebrate with her but tbh I'm not craving it at ALL. I probably will be going crazy when it's hot and I could murder a drink but at the moment I just can't think of anything worse.

No judgement here though, I know people who have had the occasional small drinks and all is fine. I can see it from others POV though in regards to previous losses, you just want to do everything by the book

Absolutely loads the first month as I didn’t know I was pregnant, spoke to the mid wife as I was extremely worried.
She said that you have to be consuming practically alcoholic levels of alcohol to cause a birth defect. I just can’t imagine it’s very nice for the growing foetus to feel drunk. Didn’t ‘This Morning’ have a volunteer drink half a lager whilst linked up to a monitor? So people could see the affects of alcohol on a foetus? It was years ago, can’t imagine it would be allowed now!

Oh, and I was on an all inclusive holiday for 2 weeks before I found out I was pregnant - so lots of drink, seafood etc. My sister got completely wasted on New Years Eve before she found out.

I had the odd glass. Advice at the time was different - a couple of units a week. I was too sick in the early stages to even contemplate it, but in the later stages I had a few small glasses of rose in the summer. I didn’t worry too much about caffeine, which I understand is also different now!

This is from Emily Oster
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/time.com/4081343/no-alcohol-during-pregnancy/%3famp=true

This is more recent
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/study-no-connection-between-drinking-alcohol-early-in-pregnancy-and-birth-problems-201309106667

I really don’t think there’s any hard evidence that a small amount of alcohol is harmful is there? Just no incontrovertible proof that it’s not harmful but you could say that about a million things that women do before during and after pregnancy that nobody seems to mind as much.

The people drinking small amounts very occasionally are not the problem and focusing on that kind of misses the point.

Like I said, I had half a glass of champagne in small sips over the course of a day at my own wedding when pregnant and otherwise nothing. No caffeine either. So I’m not feeling the need to defend myself here, I just made a choice I felt comfortable with and think it’s any woman’s right to do the same provided we really are talking about small amounts.

I did have a large glass of wine before I even knew I was pregnant and agonised about that a bit once I found out but that’s ridiculous really —at that stage the placenta hadn’t even kicked in meaning nothing was passing to the ‘baby’ (embryo) anyway.

I’m not going to lie I judge the shit out of a
lot of parenting decisions I see on the various parenting groups I frequent online but tiny amounts of alcohol in pregnancy isn’t one of them really, and even the ones that do get me clutching my pearls I keep my mouth shut about because it’s not my baby not my business.

The pp argument that it’s selfish because it doesn’t benefit the baby -well yeah, but I do loads of things every day that have no direct benefit for my baby - as I’m sure you do too.
We are allowed you know.

@AliasGrape I totally agree with this post! I feel like there are plenty of things I may judge people for but this isn't one of them (of course that's largely due to the fact that it's a choice I agree with)- I think because there really isn't any evidence that a small amount harms the baby whereas we know that it's only very large amounts that cause issues with the baby. I also hate that women are made to feel guilty about things when they are pregnant when the majority of us are trying are absolute best to be responsible and care more than anything for our babies. When I have a small glass of wine it's because I love the taste (sorry to other posters who have said that there are non alcoholic drinks that compare- I don't agree!) and sip it over the course of an evening. I never feel tipsy or drunk.

I just wish pregnancy and miscarriage was funded in the same way other medical questions are. When I had an mmc I was amazed how little research and information there was and it's the same with this. It seems that a lot of women drink a very small amount so I can't imagine it would be too difficult to do some research on possible effects on the baby as we aren't asking women to do anything they aren't already doing.

@katelynmseng those mothers drink to excess though- these are not mothers who drunk a very small amount. I am one of those mothers in the latter category and I have a one year old daughter who was 9lb at birth and is more than on track with all of her developments and milestones. So it doesn't follow that a tiny bit of alcohol means certain catastrophe for your child.

fertilityscience.org/adverse-neonatal-outcomes-with-maternal-alcohol-use/

Alcohol is a known carcinogen.

In very low amounts you probably would not see a physical/mental abnormality in your child, but genetically there would be some changes.... better just to avoid outright.

@Iszzy risk based approach I think, hopefully all those who avoid alcohol also avoid living by the side of a main road (pollution), eating burnt meat, doesn't use plastics etc etc

@pigglepot like @Suzi888 said, you literally have to be an alcoholic or a hard drinker throughout pregnancy to worry. Like you already said, there's lack of research specifically carried out, but if you look at the research of those that did have children with FASD, pretty certain that the mother wasn't drinking the small amounts you were referring to in your first post.

@Luckyelephant1

For those that choose to drink and keep saying they have a small glass here and there, I don't judge as it's your choice but I don't really get what the point of 'one small glass' is.

If you're drinking it for taste reasons then there's so many non-alcoholic options out there now. And if you're drinking it to feel the effects of getting tipsy, does 'one small glass' even achieve that? So what even is the point?

I can assure you that non-alcoholic wine tastes nothing like a decent glass of wine. It’s disgusting. Same for sparkling. Some of the non-alcoholic beers are just about passable, as is some of the fake gin but it’s still not the same taste wise.

And I definitely did feel the effects after one small glass of bubbles having not touched a drop for 4 months.

The study below only seems to record four or more drinks per occasion as constituting maternal alcohol use. So pretty much nobody on this thread would fall under that category.

@pigglepot Emily Oster's book Expecting Better is a really interesting read on this and many other aspects of pregnancy. The guidance is, of course, no alcohol whatsoever but this is relatively new guidance. Previously the 1-2 units once or twice a week was the guidance, and a hundred odd years ago alcohol wasn't considered dangerous at all during pregnancy, indeed spirits were actually given in labour as a painkiller!

I've had a small glass of wine several times during my second and third trimesters and from my research there isn't a significant risk unless you're drinking 3+ units a week, and realistically probably more like 7+. Afraid I can't link to the studies as I did my research when I got pregnant for a second time eight months ago. The NHS guidance is zero alcohol because it can be difficult to judge what is an acceptable amount; a 1 unit glass of wine looks tiny! Or, a cynic might say that the government see women unfit to judge the quantities that they are consuming during pregnancy, which is a whole other condescending story.

For the people saying why bother having just one drink, you must have a problem with alcohol etc- Not everyone who drinks alcohol only does it to get absolutely pissed, for some people it is a pleasure. Personally I am really into wine, I love learning about it, doing wine tastings etc, it’s a bit of a hobby. So it was a pleasure I wanted to still indulge in very occasionally. I could happily enjoy one small glass when I was pregnant and not have any more. It wasn’t about getting a buzz. It was about really enjoying a particular drink, but obviously at a much safer level.

@bleachblondemom but is it worth it when your "pleasure" can potentially risk your babies wellbeing?

@delilabell I was confident that having a small amount of alcohol about 4 times in my whole pregnant would be ok, as are many other people

No judgement from me OP, I'm also curious about studies into small amounts of alcohol. Ultimately, I felt too guilty to have more than a sip of my OH'S wine although I did allow myself a glass of fizz at New Year and guess what? It tasted rank to me! Couldn't finish it, ended up making it a Bucks Fizz. Contemplating having a glass on my birthday and I'll be well into the third trimester by then. TBH, I miss food more than the booze!

Surely being pregnant and growing a life inside you means being as healthy as you can for those months. Alcohol is a poison so why put it in your body and bloodstream when you are growing a life inside of you?

I drink alcohol but never when I was pregnant. Why would I? Oddly some people who drink during pregnancy then go on preaching about the health benefits of bf and judge those who don't. It's so odd.

@bleachblondemom as I've said before I don't think think your pleasure is worth the risk to your unborn child, when I have to look at my son with fasd and its repercussions every day

Ok that’s fine, all I’m saying is, not everyone who likes a drink has to get plastered every time or else ‘what’s the point’ , or has a drinking problem, that’s the point I was responding to

I haven't had any alcohol since we started trying to conceive, except for when my period arrives and I drown my sorrows with one glass of wine or a gin & tonic before picking myself up and starting again.

I tend to go with the Emily Oster school of thought that a unit or two spaced out, with food and water, will have no detrimental effect on the baby whatsoever. I can’t remember exactly word for word but it’s evidence-based on the fact that in very small amounts, your liver breaks the alcohol down and desks with it before it would get anywhere near the baby.

I’ve had a small glass of wine when I’ve fancied it, on a weekend, but not every weekend. It depends what we have for dinner a lot of the time- steak and I’ll have a glass of red, we had fish pie the other night and I had a glass of Sauvignon. I expect I’ll order a glass of champagne on our wedding anniversary next month.

I’m happy with that and while I understand others abstain completely, I do not feel guilty about my choice to have the odd small glass of wine.

And non-alcohol wine is absolutely rank.