Birtains Streets of Booze and Feotal Alcohol Syndrome!

[staceym11]

Has anyone else been watching this programme? i cant believe nobody ever told me about FAS when i was pregnant. when i was first pg with dd i wasnt aware that i was as she wasnt planned and i binge drank more than anyone i knew (being drunk every day), when i found out i was pregnant i cut down drinking (maybe a glass of wine a week) but never knew it could do so much harm.

Was anyone told about FAS when pregnant????

Yes! Its in every book. BUT the level of panic that this causes is totally unnecessary IMHO. I drank a couple of glasses of red wine a week when pregnant with ds. I really don't think that level does any harm.

After all, in some European Countries it's perfectly normal to drink wine with your meal and I don't think any of those countries have a massive increase of babies born with FAS.

The UK can be a bit hysterical about these things.

With DS I was told to stick to 7/8 units a week (not all at the same time) and he is only 18mths...I was never told specifically about FAS and have always assumed that you needed to drink a hell of a lot for that to apply..

Yes! Its in every book you buy. BUT the level of panic that this causes is totally unnecessary IMHO. I drank a couple of glasses of red wine a week when pregnant with ds. I really don't think that level does any harm.

After all, in some European Countries it's perfectly normal to drink wine with your meal and I don't think any of those countries have a massive difference in the number of babies born with FAS.

The UK can be a bit hysterical about these things. A glass of wine a week sounds perfectly normal.

But watch this space...... responses on this thread will vary from "I would never drink even a drop when pregnant, its just selfish and irresponsible" to "I drank a glass a wine every night and my 3 kids are fine!!"

Yes! Its in every book you buy. BUT the level of panic that this causes is totally unnecessary IMHO. I drank a couple of glasses of red wine a week when pregnant with ds. I really don't think that level does any harm.

After all, in some European Countries it's perfectly normal to drink wine with your meal and I don't think any of those countries have a massive difference in the number of babies born with FAS.

The UK can be a bit hysterical about these things. A glass of wine a week sounds perfectly normal.

But watch this space...... responses on this thread will vary from "I would never drink even a drop when pregnant, its just selfish and irresponsible" to "I drank a glass a wine every night and my 3 kids are fine!!"

We heard you the first time Fangache

well new advice is to not drink a drop when pg

I must say I havent since discovering I was pg, but quite looking forward to a glass of wine of a Friday night once I am past the 14 week stage

You got an opinion on this then fangache?

I was like LL, and going with the theory of you needed to be drinking a hell of a lot for it to apply. As long as you weren't binge drinking through the entire pregnancy, then i would assume it wasn't an issue.

You got different advice to me Enid, I'm 19 weeks and was told the 7/8 units version.

OMG NO IDEA What happened there!!! Sorry for being a bit trigger-happy there folks.

i never saw anythign about it and i seemed to read everything going. my arguement is surely if it is a possiblity shouldnt people be told about it. the midwife 'advised' me not to drink but never really told me why other than it'd harm the baby!!

i never acctually knew the risk was so great.

i would agree small levels probably wont harm them but how do we know????

As with so many things, it's moderation which is the key word. After all, there's no point in knowing about FAS if you don't know you are pregnant when you are bingeing. If you only drink in moderation, then FAS is unlikely to rear its ugly head.

Obviously if you abstain from sex, you can binge to your heart's content (if you're prepared for the personal consequences of this). If you are engaging in sex, then there is always a possibility of a pregnancy as no form of contraception is 100% effective (apart from possibly a hysterectomy if you consider that to be a form of contraception!), so perhaps you shouldn't be bingeing.

a bit over emotion all about it Fangache!! lol

well i was 17, using condoms and on the pill and still became pregnant but didnt know so was binging anyway. dd is perfectly fine (11mth) but surely its a worry if no-one tells you about it!

i knew about it but am on the side of common sense.
If you are rat arsed every night then of course it will affect the baby , however, i can't see the harm in the odd glass of wine with a meal or eeked out over 3 hours watching a film. Oh the memories!

Stacey - You were told it could harm your baby to drink. I don't really think there is any need for the Midwife to go into in any more detail than that unless she suspects you are drinking heavily!
It really is then up to the Mother to weigh up risks and make choices on that basis.

I dare say you would have been given the leaflets on what you can and can't eat (if you're in the UK)??? That included alcohol.

new research here

TBH I don't think health profs can get it right. If they loomed over all pregnant women and said 'there is a risk of damaging your baby with every drop of alcohol you take' (which is true) we would be shouting 'nanny state, nanny state' (well I wouldn't because I hate the phrase, but something similar anyway). The midwife can only 'advise' you, that's a specific approach, it's your choice what you do. And that goes right through motherhood - the scariest thing about early days with ds for me was realising that he would adapt to practically anything I did, it was up to me to try and make it good stuff.

i dont remember any leaflets on it, or what i could and couldnt eat really lol, could be my memory loss!!!

my only point is i never knew it was that bad, and as the midwife knew me before (not in a professional way) she knew how much i did drink in the first stages should she not have warned me if i continued (which i didnt thankfully)

Fangache, that was me. I did drink a small glass of red wine most nights when pg with DS2. My midswife said they had to ask about people's drinking habits but what concerned them and was potentially damaging was binge drinking. In fact she said a glass of wine could have positively beneficial effects on reducing stress, lowering blood pressure etc.

Oh, and DS2 is absolutely fine BTW.

Honestly Stacey - I think its just taken that people know not to drink heavily when pregnant!!!!

Sorry I mean a glass of wine a night could be beneficial etc...

Wordsmith - I stopped drinking my 2 glasses of red wine at the weekend when I was 37 wks pg (too much heartburn!).... a week later I was in hospital with high BP! Should've kept on drinking eh?

has anyone read the new research?

stacey its a bit of a no-brainer that getting drunk everyday might harm your baby

i know its common sense but before i was pregnant i had none, lol young and stupid, i just think that the evidence should have been presented thats all!

yeah i read it, and think that there might be something in it and as i now drink very little i probably would avoid at all costs in pregnancy!