Haven't even read the comments, but mild drinking in pregnancy is fine. I read a study (and I wish I could find the link) that showed that they ahve NEVER EVER found an adverse effect from 2-10 drinks a week. Yes, binge drinking is bad, but a sane amount won't do anything.
FAS wasn't even discovered until like 1980.
On top of that Europeans have been drinking almost constantly for as far back as you can remember. Water purification has been a notorious problem in pre-modern European society, and so everyone always drank wine or beer (depending on location) because it was safer.
There's also a huge push in our society to get women to stop drinking, and this has been true at least since the Victorian era, probably even going back to the Puritans. It's a moral panic thing and this is the one scientific reason people have come up with why women shouldn't drink. Then there's the whole women's bodies are public property thing, which I won't get into here.
Also, notice that it's strictly consumption of alcoholic beverages that's a problem, never anything else that contains alcohol. I've never heard one person say a pregnant woman shouldn't use mouth wash (40 proof) or cough syrup. Heck, my midwife has encouraged my use of a couple of tinctures which are made with VODKA. If ANY alcohol was the problem, these would be verboten as well. And, yet, they're not.
So it's a social issue and total b.s. Don't binge drink, but the occasional glass of wine or beer will. not. cause problems.
FAS wasn't even discovered until like 1980.
On top of that Europeans have been drinking almost constantly for as far back as you can remember. Water purification has been a notorious problem in pre-modern European society, and so everyone always drank wine or beer (depending on location) because it was safer.
There's also a huge push in our society to get women to stop drinking, and this has been true at least since the Victorian era, probably even going back to the Puritans. It's a moral panic thing and this is the one scientific reason people have come up with why women shouldn't drink. Then there's the whole women's bodies are public property thing, which I won't get into here.
Also, notice that it's strictly consumption of alcoholic beverages that's a problem, never anything else that contains alcohol. I've never heard one person say a pregnant woman shouldn't use mouth wash (40 proof) or cough syrup. Heck, my midwife has encouraged my use of a couple of tinctures which are made with VODKA. If ANY alcohol was the problem, these would be verboten as well. And, yet, they're not.
So it's a social issue and total b.s. Don't binge drink, but the occasional glass of wine or beer will. not. cause problems.
I'm always surprised by the American extremism towards alcohol. No offense meant by this (I actually don't drink at all) ... it just surprises me that the guidelines in America are so darn extreme.
) are pregnant it seems a lot of people forget that. 
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