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

Based on guidance being ‘no safe amount’ so don’t, I’m very surprised your midwife said it’s okay.

I had a small glass of wine on 3 occasions when pregnant. I wouldn’t drink a cocktail to be honest, I think spirits are too strong, mocktails nowadays are good so just have one of them, that’s what I did.

I can’t believe a PP drank a margarita, that’s a bloody strong drink if there was one! I also craved a margarita but obviously I waited until my baby had been born.

Why risk it? The NHS is pretty clear on this, as below.

I think your midwife was negligent to say this too. People like to normalise drinking in lots of situations, while pregnant that’s especially dangerous.

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/drinking-alcohol-while-pregnant/#:~:text=Drinking%20alcohol%20during%20pregnancy%20increases,alcohol%20spectrum%20disorder%20(FASD)

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and your baby having a low birthweight. It can also affect your baby after they're born.
Drinking during pregnancy can cause your baby to develop a serious life-long condition called fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

I’m yet to meet a medic of any type who doesn’t say drinking the odd glass of wine in pregnancy is fine.

@LeaveTaking your baby isn’t going to get FASD from having one drink.

I'd never take any risk with the cognitive health of a DC. I look after 2 DC who have foetal alcohol syndrome which left them both with quite severe learning disabilities they will have for life and are irriversable. Their mother's drank a lot of alcohol but having seen the devastating consequences on their lives I would never risk drinking a drop of alcohol even when trying for a baby.

Why not have a mocktail?

Sure would be ok but just have a mocktail instead .. you’ll be happier in the morning.

Just no. Alcohol is a poison.

God I’d love a pina colada right now.
I’m almost 30 weeks pregnant and I bloody love a cocktail. I haven’t had one like, but they are yummy.
I’d see if they could make my chosen cocktail into a mocktail if I was going to have one.

I’m not pregnant so I agree.

However, alcohol affects everyone differently so you can’t say one drink is safe.

I think it’s a societal issue that drinking is considered so essential. It’s 9 months.

Honestly. What a load of horrible nonsense.

I guarantee one drink will do absolutely no harm.

I don’t know why but a small wine vs a cocktail feels different. Even though it’s probably a similar alcohol content. It’s the hard spirit for me. Maybe try a mocktail?

It’s unlikely to do any harm but you can’t guarantee that. OP hasn’t even had an anomaly scan yet and you’ve no idea how she responds to alcohol or if that baby is healthy. If OP takes the risk that’s fine, but there is no guarantee alcohol is safe in pregnancy.

I absolutely can say one drink is safe.

I do think women who drink heavily during pregnancy do under-report their consumption, so when they have a child with FASD they claim to only have been drinking moderately when they were, in fact, drinking a hell of a lot.

my midwives have always pointed out no alcohol / smoking / drugs / whatever there is in the leaflet. I have never outright queried the odd drink though, so I don’t have experience of them giving me their opinion. Just surprised they’d leave themselves so vulnerable to complaints / suing if god forbid something did go wrong.

You can say it but it doesn’t make it true!

I would never drink alcohol during a pregnancy. It’s just not an option.

FFS. Stop shaming women. When I had DS it was 1 or 2 drinks once or twice a week. I had half a bottle of champagne at the Millennium when 8 months pregnant. DS was Gifted and Talented, and now has an MEng and his dream professional career. Mediterranean people have a couple of glasses of wine a day. The odd cocktail isn't the same as continually binge drinking. Just stop it.

Well it is up to you, I just stopped because I don't have alcohol issues so it was a simple decision

How about having a white wine spritzer. Really water it down

My DC is autistic with learning difficulties and several times throughout the assessment process, I was asked if I drank any alcohol during pregnancy. I didn't, thank god because (and they are a teenager now) there isn't a week that goes by when I don't look back and wonder if I did something wrong in the pregnancy that contributed to his difficulties.
It really isn't worth it.

Is it shaming women or is it opposing views that have been offered when asked?

FWIW, OP, the argument of “it’s only one drink” works the other way too - if it’s just one, just don’t have it. If something god forbid happened, you just wouldn’t want this over yourself.

You’ve made it this far already!

One drink can affect the baby. It probably won’t, but you cannot say it definitely won’t. It depends how much alcohol crosses the placenta into the baby. The baby can’t metabolise alcohol so it stays in its system for a long time. It’s so small at this stage and developing vital systems.

One drink will probably be fine, but it's wild that you can't go a few months without a drink. What better reason is there to abstain for a bit?

What are you going to get out of one drink? Would it even be worth it? I'd wait until after baby is born then get yourself some nice champagne.

One cocktail would be absolutely fine. Enjoy!