Wine and Pregnancy

[Sonnet]

I see a lot of differing opinions; the latest seems to be that a little bit seems actually to lower the chances of miscarriage, and that children born to women who drink a small amount of wine during their pregnancies actually score higher on a variety of tests. Of course, the standard American position is to avoid alcohol altogether.

Thoughts?

[Chamomile Girl]

Listen to your body and be frugal with portions. Many women find that they cannot tolerate the taste of wine while pregnant, while many are fine with it. I couldn't even smell it in my first trimester without getting sick (the only other food adversion I had was cheese) and now that it tastes good again drinking it makes me ill.

Also good to remember that it is dehydrating if you do decide to imbibe.

[soccermama]

I drank about a glass of red wine a week in my third trimester. I didn't really have the pickles and peanut butter type of cravings, nothing grossed me out, so drinking the wine tasted just like it did before I became preggers.

[FischK]

From most of the things I've read online, alcohol becomes a problem for the fetus if you drink about 2-3 drinks a day. For most of this pregnancy, I did not drink at all, but at certain moments/holidays/celebrations, I did have a little wine/champagne and it felt fine and tasted great. I think the important thing is moderation.

[Norasmomma]

I had a couple 1/2 glasses with nice dinners with DD. I just did what felt right for me and my body. I guess I also had a couple drinks of Dh's Huckleberry beer when I was like 8 months, it was August and those sips were wonderful, huckleberry beer is yummy. A couple sips, totally fine, IMO.

One of my older friends had a midwife from Belgium who told her to drink a beer a day in the 3rd tri to help relax her and bring on her milk production, but this was like 28 years ago or something.

I actually craved beer when pg with DD in my 2nd tri- I bought Odouls, it was gross, but at the time it tasted really good. too weird.

[dawncayden]

I personally don't think there is a reason for it. I'm also not a drinker, so I would be going from drinking a glass of alcohol once every 3 months to once a week? That doesn't make to my personal life.

[Sonnet]

Bumping this... seems like I'm not the only one wondering about this.

[Talula Fairie]

Didn't someone just post about this the other day?

Personally, I think there's no need for it and you should just avoid it. Sure, it's probably not unsafe to have a glass once in awhile, but I still don't think you should do it. Then again, I don't drink.

[sarah trost]

My OB suggested wine or margaritta or the like in my third trimester as an alternative to anti-anxiety meds. She felt it was safer! She said as long as I don't have more then one serving a day or a few a week (don't have it every day) then the baby would be fine. She said the warnings are because of fetal alcohol syndrome, which is found in babies of mothers who consume way more then one serving a day.

[sarah trost]

BTW- I still had it rarely as although she gave me the green light I was still very cautious. In fact, I think I had one or two servings in the whole ten months of my last pregnancy.

[Watershippy]

here is the recent discussion Talula Fairie mentioned:

<http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1058907>

[DavinaT]

The whole -absoluely no alcohol at all- type of prohibition is a uniquely North American perspective, that puzzles a lot of Europeans. In most of Europe (except maybe the UK) the tenet is, abstinence in the first trimester - but really most women don't even know they're pregnant is the first three weeks anyway and no-one is goign to suggest that all women between 16 and 56 permenantly abstain so I don't know how much sense that advice makes. Any moderation as regards beer and wine is advised in the second trimester. No more than 1 - 5 units per week and no more than 1 unit per day. With no more than 7 units por week beign advised for the second trimester. Actually, up untl quite recently a weekly glass of stout (like Guinness) was recommended in the last trimester. In fact many obs would be more concerned about inadequate, iron & folic acid or the consumption of soft cheese and unpasteruerised milk than the occasional glass of wine. Of course the advice doesn't apply for abstainers - just as advice on redmeat eatign in pegnancy wouldn't aply to vegetarians. The risk for fetal alcohol syndrome is for women who consume way more thnba would be recommended for anyone.

[BennyPai]

I can't remember where I read this, but here it is anyway: There may be a correlation between your normal drinking habits and the amount of alcohol that may harm your fetus. i.e.: an alcoholic can consume more drinks without harming the fetus than a woman who drinks an occasional glass of wine with dinner can.

This has stuck with me, as I don't tend to drink much normally. I feel like there is a greater risk to my fetus than to the fetus of a seasoned drinker. I hope someone who reads this recognizes it and can link to the source of the information. It is 3 + years old ...

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by BennyPai

I can't remember where I read this, but here it is anyway: There may be a correlation between your normal drinking habits and the amount of alcohol that may harm your fetus. i.e.: an alcoholic can consume more drinks without harming the fetus than a woman who drinks an occasional glass of wine with dinner can.

This has stuck with me, as I don't tend to drink much normally. I feel like there is a greater risk to my fetus than to the fetus of a seasoned drinker. I hope someone who reads this recognizes it and can link to the source of the information. It is 3 + years old ...

I'd be interested to know if that is true. Everything I read suggested that the mother's alcohol tolerance has nothing to do with the fetus' likelihood of getting FAS. I always read there is no known safe amount of alcohol, that it's different for every person and they don't know why. But I think I read that in mainstream media.

[ShellieC]

My midwife approved wine in moderation at the end of my last pregnancy, and I hadn't had even a sip up until that point. I think I was about 8 months along before I had any, although I'd craved it sooo badly a few times before hand. I did quite a bit of research on my own first and decided that I was comfortable with the odd 1/2 glass (with food & water). My little guy was fine and is such a little smartie that I'm sure it didn't hurt him any. This pregnancy I'm not as anxious about it and have the odd 1/4 glass of red wine, which we brew ourselves. I had a glass of red wine about every other day before I got pregnant so it is nice to be able to have a sip every now and then without guilt. I couldn't stand the taste of the alcohol in it during the first trimester but by around 13 weeks I was able to have a little bit again. I don't usually want more than 1/4 glass so really enjoy what I do have.

[indie]

I was serving as a chalice bearer at church while pregnant with my 3rd child and was supposed to drink the left overs. My midwife said up to a full glass size a month. That seems pretty conservative to me, but that was her opinion and I stuck to it. I also had a glass or two a week before finding out I was pregnant. I was in denial so it took a while to figure out. He is 18 months now and no signs of trouble from the little bit that I had. That little bit of wine made church the highlight of my week, LOL.

[udonandbroth]

I had about one beer or one glass of wine a day while I was pregnant with all three of my kids. My oldest son is now in 2nd grade and his teacher sends home math enrichment books and he gets all 100%s on his spelling tests. My kindergarten age daughter is doing just fine and all three are between the 75th and 60th percentiles for height and weight. Number three is smart as a whip, too. That said, each person has different needs. For me and my kids, having one drink a day was not a problem.

[ShadowMoon]

I had the occasional glass of wine or pint of Guinness while pregnant. Nothing out of my comfort zone. My child is very healthy and has reached every milestone. I don't think that has to do with the alcohol, but I don't think it harmed him either.

[belltree]

Well, I am not American and I am still avoiding alcohol altogether. I don't drink regularly anyways - maximum 2 drinks a month, plus sometimes for cooking. There can be positive effects from drinking red wine, but there are also certain risks that increase tremendously. I just read a study the other day, that emphasized how imported it is to avoid alcohol especially in the first trimester, to avoid developmental issues.

Of course one cannot reduce all risks and life needs to go on. Giving up alcohol is so easy for me, maybe someone who has a harder time doing so, will feel miserable during their pregnancy, which in turn is also not considered good for the baby.

Find your own middle way and do things in moderation. I easily give up the wine, but I am not giving up the sushi completely

[70toes]

It sounds a lot to me like the issue of sunscreen. Docs recommend that you put sunscreen on 24/7, especially on your kids because they don't think we have enough common sense to use discretion in the sun. (Now we have vit d deficiencies!) They have to make hard fast rules that may be a too prudent at times in order to exercise their "duty to protect us". Maybe they feel that instead of saying "The occasional glass of wine is okay." they have to say none at all to stop the lunatics who would party it up with their prego bellies and get drunk every weekend? JMO.