Little amounts of alcohol during pregnancy

[Cherry85]

During my first pregnancy I never drank at all. I have friends with 2 or 3 kids who have enjoyed the occasional glass of wine throughout pregnancy and my midwife also says that's fine..... but we are out for dinner on Saturday for a friend's birthday and I am really craving a cocktail.

Would one cocktail be an issue as opposed to a glass of wine?

17 weeks if that makes any difference

There’s no safe amount as no tests can be done
lots of people do drink in pregnancy and have healthy babies
alcohol Contributes to a lot of pregnancies (!)
maybe a really good alcohol free option could be good?
by the time I was in the third trimester I had a very small, occasional glass of wine with food but barely anything really

You’ll be fine.

It depends on the cocktail. Some have quite a lot of spirits in them so not ideal, but highly unlikely that one is going to do any harm. Most places do decent mocktails these days though, if it’s more the special glass and sweetness you want.

It’s fine. Enjoy.

I would be cautious with a cocktail without knowing the measurements of spirits going in. I had a glass of wine at Xmas and whatnot but never more than 2 units.

Many people do have occasional alcohol in pregnancy without issues. The chances are it'll be fine

I think the odd small glass during pregnancy is probably fine.

That said, my question about a cocktail would be how strong it was, as it’s so hard to tell! Maybe just check with the barman.

It’s hard to judge the strength on cocktails so wine would be better. The baby is doing a huge amount of developing at this stage and so I wouldn’t in my second trimester personally. But I’m sure it wouldn’t do any actual damage

Couldn't you just have a mocktail? I don't think it's worth taking a risk. It's only a few months.

I'm also in my second trimester of my third pregnancy. First pregnancy I craved a glass of wine when our for lunch one day so enjoyed that, second pregnancy had absolutely no craving for alcohol and this time around I have craved a margarita and enjoyed one on our anniversary recently.

Obviously there is no recommendation around sensible alcohol limits in pregnancy but I think the odd one here or there will be fine

I ordered a mocktail at a wedding at 16 weeks, for whatever reason the guy behind the bar made the alcoholic version and I realised a bit late. I went up to my room around an hour later for some water and after a while my partner came looking for me and found me asleep 😂
Baby was fine but just be aware your tolerance might not be!

I’ve had a small glass of wine or half here or there in all three pregnancies. But I’ve personally had a no spirits rule

I’ve had wine in my pregnancies. I would personally have wine then switch to mocktails!

I'd caution a cocktail because they can be quite strong, some have multiple different spirits and when you've abstained for so long there's a potential for that to hit you quite hard! I don't know about you, but even one cocktail can make me feel a bit buzzy. I think a drink that could make you feel that way is too much. Slowly sipping a glass of wine might be ok. No safe limit is known so it's always a potential risk. A mocktail tastes just about the same as a cocktail though if you're just craving the sweetness in a fancy glass that could satisfy the craving😊

I wouldn’t. Why don’t you have an alcohol free cocktail? All the flavour none of the bad side effects .

I wouldn’t personally, and I wouldn’t assure someone else it’s fine to do so either. This one is up to you, OP.

I now plenty of ppl do and it's usually fine.

For me it was a no because I was afraid if anything was wrong with my baby-even if it wasn't necessarily because of the wine/cocktail that I would blame myself.

It wasn't worth it for me

Have a mocktail and add a single measure of whichever spirit it goes with or ask the bartender to make your cocktail weaker. You'll know exactly how much alcohol is in it then. Enjoy your night out.

Small amounts of alcohol might do damage, depending on how you as an individual metabolise it. That's something it's pretty impossible to definitively account for. Most people who have small amounts do appear to have healthy pregnancies, but there are no guarantees and it's an area there isn't much hard data on. All that can be said is that there is no known safe amount of alcohol, especially in the earlier weeks. Obviously nobody has a perfectly risk-free pregnancy, though.

Of course you'll be fine, but what's the point? Cocktails are mostly juice so just have juice

You’ll be fine

there is no acceptable limit of what is ok and broadly the nhs don’t trust us to make our own decisions so it makes sense for them to tell us not to have any at all.

a bit in moderation is fine. But I went skiing when pregnant so clearly am on the slightly more risk-happy end of the spectrum.

I wouldn't touch any alcohol let alone a cocktail. You have no idea the measurements in it.

Just get a mocktail ? Sorry if it sounds harsh but it's only 9 months

Depends how much you care about your unborn child, really. I wouldn't/didn't drink at all. But if you're comfortable taking completely unnecessary risks with their health, crack on.

What’s the point? You wouldn’t enjoy it. Have a mocktail.

yeah it’s fine but I wouldn’t go for a Long Island ice tea or anything 😆