Page 6 | whats the current advice on drinking in pregnancy??

RachelG · 06/06/2008 15:28

To respond to a point made by someone a couple of pages back, antibiotics DO go through to the baby when you're pregnant. All antibiotics do. It's just that some of them don't do the baby any harm, which is why they can be taken. Others on the other hand do a lot of harm, and have to be avoided. (I'm a GP)

Personally I avoided alcohol completely during my pregnancy. I'd been through the hell of fertility treatment, and I was totally paranoid, and not taking any chances with my baby. It seemed like no sacrifice at all to be honest, considering what I'd endured with the IVF!

I get irritated by people defending alcohol in pregnancy, as if it was a basic essential to human life, like air and water.

I think that if a body of experts advises that something may possibly harm your baby, then I'm really not interested in splitting hairs, trying to pick holes in the research. I'll just do as I'm advised - after all, however much I surf the net or talk to consultants, I'm not going to know as much as the people who dedicate years to researching the subject.

Libra1975 · 06/06/2008 15:43

The DoH isn't a body of experts and no-one has ever proved that a small amount of alchol could harm your baby they have extrapolated that because a large amount can harm then a small amount can which is hardly scientific. I take it you are avoiding all fish incase of mercury poisoining and all caffeine?

cali · 06/06/2008 15:56

Not gov advice, but nothing for the 1st trimester and then 1-2 units, once or twice per week is still actually considered safe by obs.

Blanket ban is thanks to the minority, who continue to drink excessively during pregnancy.
And as it would be completely unethical to do trials of alcohol intake on foetuses, the current advice has to be no alcohol.
SIL obs in NZ said that she could safely drink a glass of wine a night!

When I was pregnant with both dd's, saturday night was my wine night and I would have 2 small glasses of very nice white wine. I consider myself to be a responsible person and do not like being told not to do something on the basis of advice that is always changing.

mrsboogie · 06/06/2008 16:18

but no one is saying that a small amount of alcohol will harm your baby. No one has ever suggested that, to my nowledge. What they are saying is that they don't know

What they are saying is that it is easier not to have any because people can't be trusted to drink in moderation and because they cannot guarantee that there is absolutely no risk from a small amount. But there is evidence of risk of birth defects from drinking (and even showering) in chlorinated water now (incuding bottled and fltered water)

If you tried to go through pregnancy eliminating all risk to an equivalent level as that advised for alcohol you would have to live in a bubble.

We could be having this conversaton about tea drinking. There is a risk from drinking tea. I still drink about 5 cups a day. If drinking tea caused miscarriages there would have been no babies born in this country for the last hundred years.

StarlightMcKenzie · 06/06/2008 16:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

accessorizequeen · 06/06/2008 20:13

But the people 'who have spent years researching the subject' haven't concluded that 2 units twice a week after the 1st trimester does any harm. The UK govt have concluded that. There is a difference! All this argument about people drinking a glass of wine a week when pg fgs as if it's some sort of mortal sin. A woman leaving her 2 year old in a flat for a weekend locked in a kitchen, that's a sin. The OP was looking for recognised guidelines, I think those are fairly well established by now. The rest is just the usual mumsnet judgemental rubbish.

fungle · 07/06/2008 07:56

Current advice is none, as I understand it, It is because some people do not know what a unit is so Its easier to say a blanket ban!
A consultant obs and gyn I know encorages the odd glass of red. As do most health proffesionals I have ever asked about this.
I am having 2 small glasses of red a week with dinner at the weekends and fully enjoying them!

misdee · 07/06/2008 08:26

blimey!!!

i was on holiday, wednesday was a gorgeous day, and i really fancied half pint of beer. i dont usually drink. someone mentioned about not drinking for nine months etc etc, well actually i last had a drink about october 2007 on a night out with friends, before that was a looong time ago. honestly i am not an alcholic or irresponsible person who gets bladdered all the time. I was trying to remember the current advice as i know some say dont drink at all, others is one or two units a week is ok but am utterly confused. i didnt have a drink in the end, as wasnt sure.
i am 16 weeks pregnant, so past the first trimester.

and tbh i am still utterly confused by the guidelines.

a nice cold beer on a summers evening is heaven [sighs]

RachelG · 07/06/2008 11:05

Starlight - my comment about being a GP related to my knowledge of antibiotics in pregnancy. Having trained for 5 years and worked as a Dr for 16 years, I am fairly certain that I know more about antibiotic prescribing than you do.

To answer the original question - the current advice is to avoid alcohol completely during pregnancy. I'm certain that this blanket rule was based on the fact that many people aren't clever enough to understand the concept of small amounts, so it's easier to advise none at all. But at the end of the day, no-one knows for sure.

It's a bit like drinking and driving. Unless you test your blood alcohol level, you won't know what effect one drink has on you. So the safest way to avoid being over the limit is to drink no alcohol at all if driving.

It's a big unknown, and I like to play things safe. Nothing to do with being a Dr, just the way I am - although I have to admit that the horrors I've seen over the years has certainly influenced my behaviour.

Libra1975 · 07/06/2008 13:34

So no fish or caffine at all for then RachelG?

AggiePanther · 07/06/2008 13:36

Or anything with aspartame ?

cali · 07/06/2008 19:06

Spend some time in a neonatal unit caring for babies whose mothers have taken a lot worse than 1-2 glasses of wine per week.
Then please feel to comment on those of us who, when pregnant do enjoy a couple of small glasses of wine per week.
You can not equate someone consuming 1-2 units of alcohol per week to someone abusing alcohol, tobacco, caffeine or illegal drugs.
As I said in my earlier post, yes the current advice is to completely abstain from alcohol, but this advice comes from a government who change their minds every few months and not experts who work in the field.
You can not treat every pregnant woman as an idiot, just because the minority do not care about their health or the health of their unborn baby.
If you want to have a small glass of wine/beer occasionally then do not feel guilty about it, if you don't then fine, just don't those that do feel as if they are bad mothers,

chefswife · 08/06/2008 16:55

i read recently that bingeing was ok. go figure.'s a glass every once in a while is fine. just be sure to keep hydrated. i have no desire to drink. the smell of it turns me off... and smelling it on someone's breath is even worse for me. it's my only real 'food' aversion. i can't get enough of real lemonade though.

expatinscotland · 08/06/2008 17:00

We were at a beautiful spot right on a sea loch yesterday having a lovely picnic, and I craved an ice cold bottle of pale ale.

Mmm, that Arran ale went down a treat!

I savoured every drop.

star6 · 08/06/2008 17:24

aspartame.... awful!!!!!! Just google aspartame. it's in so many things and just awful. I completely avoid it - always checking food labels - and feel much better for it, too!!
And I don't crave alcohol, so just don't drink it... but I agree with other posters - I had read a lot of research about this... SOME says even small amounts affect the fetus in some women (and yes, this was proven) and SOME of the research says that it doesn't affect a fetus at all... who knows? I just don't risk it with anything.

daisy26 · 08/06/2008 17:29

I am 7 months pregnant and I stopped drinking basically soon as I found out, think I may have had 1 bottle but i felt bit ill so only drank half of it. I found out just before christmas I was pregant, so its been a long time. I still go out now and just drive and drink soft drinks, i can still have a good time, without the alcohol, and think I have done quite well hehe

AggiePanther · 08/06/2008 20:56

star6 - I'd be very interested to know more about the research which has proven that even small amounts of alcohol affect the fetus as I've yet to find any convincing research - could you post a link?

Upwind · 09/06/2008 06:43

Star6 - I would also appreciate a link to the research that you mention.

star6 · 09/06/2008 07:27

I will have a look for you. I'm a teacher and in the midst of writing reports... letting MN distract me a bit So I might post it in a new thread in a few days time. I'll label it clearly.

Upwind · 09/06/2008 07:42

Thanks Star6, it is just that I am a researcher and have searched and searched and been unable to find anything which has proven that even small amounts of alcohol affect the fetus

TinkerbellesMum · 09/06/2008 07:50

I still find it funny that whilst on holiday in Amsterdam I went to a sandwhich shop and they refused to serve me because all their meat was rare, however they didn't worry about giving me a pint

I went with an Italian friend who kept telling me I needed to drink more "you need red wine, it's good for the baby!" (I didn't drink as much as he wanted me to, I have to point out!)

Upwind · 09/06/2008 07:54

Tinkerbellesmum - that is not strange, it is based on common sense. There is no reason to believe the pint of beer would have done you any harm.

belgo · 09/06/2008 08:10

risk of toxoplasmosis and other sorts of food poisoning from raw meat. Potentially very serious.

Risk of one pint of beer: are you sure they gave you a pint? They only have the metric system in Holland. I would be very surprised if someone showed me research that showed that one pint of beer was harmful at all during pregnancy.

TheApprentice · 09/06/2008 08:35

I am 31 weeks pregnant and had a glass of white wine with a BBQ on Saturday night. Its my second drink since falling pregnant. OMG, it was wonderful, tasted like nectar!

TinkerbellesMum · 09/06/2008 09:01

Whatever their equivalent was, they don't correct you when you ask for a pint of whatever.

I wouldn't eat rare meat anyway [bleugh] but it was funny to me because of UK - and more American as I used a lot of American sites at that time - attitudes, I remember thinking "wait till I post this!"