drinking while preggers.

Victoria - posted on 02/18/2013

Scientific studies prove that moderation is the way to go. I admit freely that I had a glass now and then while I was pregnant. Didn't hurt my babies a bit. My youngest is 21. As for the neo-prohibitionists on here who are sooo against alcohol, I say get over yourselves! You're laying a needless guilt trip on folks.

Elizabeth - posted on 11/11/2010

Its wrong, and should be considered neglect by the mom. I went to high school with a girl that has FAS, its a very terrible thing. I'm surprised she is still alive. Shes on my facebook now we reconnected and her life is so unstable. Even with the proper treatment and stability the fas person will probably not become a productive citizen of society. Once the damage is done its done.

Jackie - posted on 02/19/2010

LOL on the yoga pose comment, too funny. and god bless you on drinking red wine, i literally can't take one sip without puckering up severely, MUCH to dry for me. I'm a white zin, aka "fake" wine, kinda girl =)

Alison - posted on 02/19/2010

Well - when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding - I really love red wine, I probably have a glass 4-5 nights/week and am a believer in all of the positive, scientifically proven effects a glass/day can bring. One of those effects is that is a stress reducer, so on those few days when I was super stressed, I really felt that 1/2 a glass had a calming effect on me and maybe it's selfish, but it was nice to enjoy the taste of something I love but hadn't had in forever. I know I could have tried something else, but at the time - sitting in a comfy chair with a little glass of wine sounded much more appealing than trying to get my gigantic, 8 month pregnant belly into a yoga pose. ;-)
I know that in Europe many women have a glass every day throughout pregnancy and they don't have unusually high instances of FAS. Not that I would ever do that... but knowing that made me confident that having a little bit once in a blue moon was not going to harm my baby,

Jackie - posted on 02/19/2010

Heather, I tend to agree wtih you. I made the comment about the champagne but I didn't personally drink it, even at the one wedding I did go to while pregnant, was just saying I know it won't hurt the baby when its in those small amounts.

Heather - posted on 02/19/2010

I definitely didn't drink and I don't disrespect you that did. My question and be honest..what satisfaction did that 1/2 glass of wine do for you? Or that little sip of champagne at a wedding? If it's that easy to take a sip, for me it was that easy not to. I just couldn't imagine ever taking even the smallest risk. No offense! = )

Alison - posted on 02/11/2010

That's kind of how I felt about coffee and wine being similar... I am normally a coffee drinker, but I was able to give that up no problem and of course I gave up wine, but just in those few instances, I really felt like having a little bit of red wine (must be my Italian heritage :)



I'm very impressed that you ladies did labor/delivery drug free! I ended up having an emergency C-section so I didn't really have an option, but after being in labor for 2 days at home, I was pretty much begging for the epidural by the time I got to the hospital.

Sabrina - posted on 02/11/2010

oh yeah alison, I dont disagree with what you did. I def had a few coffee's throught my pregnancy (which I dont find your wine to be any worse than the coffee's that I had) I just think that we (pregnant mothers) need to take the best care of our babies, so I dont see the point in having a glass of wine everynight just because you can. Just like I dont think women should have 2 cups of coffee a day, just because they can. I think you kept it in moderation. KUDOS to you!!! :)



***I too went drug free with my labor:)*** lol

Jackie - posted on 02/11/2010

Well I do agree that 1.5 glasses of wine over a pregnancy is certainly not going to do any long term harm to your baby by any means....that goes back to my comment of if you want a little sip of champagne at a wedding its far from the end of the world. And dont' worry, we all know many people do much worse. And yes stress also has plenty of effects on the baby....and I had a job with 12 hour days through about half of my pregnancy, so I know all about the stress side of it - I just personally would find other ways to relax that would have zero effect on my baby, whether short term or long term. Kinda how Sabrina said it, I avoided as much as possible that wasn't for the best, even if it was considered "ok".

Alison - posted on 02/11/2010

Well - I know I'm going to get attacked here, but I feel our little group is all about honesty. I guess I am a horrible mother b/c I had a 1/2 a glass of wine 3 times during my last trimester. I defintiely agree that no one should go around promoting drinking during pregnancy and I know that it doesn't have any nutritional benefit for the baby, but in the 3 cases that I had my 1/2 glass, I had come from very stressful 10 hour days at work and just having a little bit of wine helped me to relax. I think stress is much worse on a baby then a tiny bit of wine, and since that was a way for me to destress, I'm not going to apologize for that. Other than that, I did everything that I was supposed to - ate healthy, no caffine, plenty of exercise, etc.

Jackie - I agree that no one knows exactly where the line is and therefore women shouldn't chance it, but I studied FAS in college and I know that most cases occurences were when the mother was having 3-5 drinks a day! Knowing that, I felt confident that a total of 1-1/2 glasses in my 3rd trimester was not going to harm my baby and sure enough I had a perfect pregnancy and a very healthy (9lb), perfect little boy.

Again - I know I'm not going to be popular based on all of your comments, but I just had to add my two cents b/c I kind of felt like I was being attacked.

Jackie - posted on 02/11/2010

So ya, I know there are doctors out there who say a drink every now and then is fine, and I was told the equivalent of 1-2 cups of coffee or soda a day would be ok by my own doctor (i never asked about alcohol). And maybe the FAS studies are done on severe alcoholics...but who knows where the line between a drink every now and then and a severe alcoholic is that will cause FAS. And I gaurantee you my idea of "every now and then" while pregnant, and these ppl who think its ok to drink would be significantly different.

I wasn't an extremist per say, but I was pretty close. I hardly every drank soda, I only had 1-2 of my small iced coffees per WEEK (and only cos my doctor said 1 a day would even be fine), didn't eat any of the suggested foods to avoid at all. Its like Sabrina said, you don't NEED any of that stuff...so if you are saying you cant' give it up you are just being selfish. It clearly does not help your baby, so why chance it. It wont kill you to go alcohol free.

SO it is a very gray area on whats considered acceptable, but I think its pretty black and what on what's "best" or however you want to word it. The less "chemicals" (of any kind) you send to your baby the better. And I also have strong feelings on this subject b/c I just can't stand to see people who are drinking b/c they are just doing it b/c they want to. I had a friend who did the watered down wine thing...like a glass every day in the end....hello, for what? Whats it doing for you that you cant' wait a couple months to have it again? Not to say there will for sure be problems with your child, I just don't believe in taking the risk. I mean if you are at a wedding and want a small sip of champagne or something....ok, but to sit at home and just down a glass at nite cos you feel like it, or "need" a glass with dinner....I think you can go without. Because ask alot of these people if they'd give their baby a sip of wine in their bottle and they'd look at you like you were INSANE. Just my thoughts =)

**I do add the caveat that I can say all of this without being hypocritical b/c I had a 100% drug free labor for the same reason. Ya I knew it wouldn't harm Kaylee in any way in the long run, but I didn't want her to be all sluggish just for my added comfort. My natural delivery was very much on purpose and I intend to do it again next time too**

Sabrina - posted on 02/10/2010

ok, I cant even read what other ppl have said b/c I just feel so strongly with what I'm about to say!!! (surprise, surprise) Ok I have heard that it is ok to have a glass of wine a day even while pregnant. I was also told (by my dr) that 2 cups of coffee(caffinated) or 4 cups of pop(caffinated) is ok for pregnant women to ingest daily.

That said, why would I drink alcohol, pop, coffee or anything else like that while I'm prego? The whole point is to take care of your baby to the BEST of your ability. So why would you do that stuff just because it's "ok"? If it has no benifits to your child so why do it? Just to feed your own selfish desires! As a mother I feel I need to be as selfless as possible, whether I'm carrying the child in my uterus or feeding him at my dinning room table!

Anna - posted on 02/10/2010

I think this is not the black and white issue a lot of people want to make it out to be. There are many doctors who say it's ok to have a drink occasionally. (Of course, it would have to be a very small drink, and occasionally doesn't mean every other day or something!) In fact, a friend of mine had to have her baby turned from breech position, and her midwife told her to have two glasses of wine before the appointment so she would be relaxed. No medical professional would ever recommend something like that if alcohol, in that amount, and on that occasion alone, would cause problems for the baby. Therefore, it's fairly simple to surmise that this is something that opinions, even of professionals, vary on.

The thing that occurred to me first and foremost when I read that conversation is that all these women are so quick to tar and feather anyone who had a glass of wine or champagne while pregnant, but how many of them think it's totally normal and ok to get an epidural or other narcotic pain relief while in labor? That stuff is far nastier than alcohol could ever dream of being. It just seems hypocritical for anyone to say that a glass of wine is wrong, but at the same time to believe that being pumped with narcotics for a solid day in the name of pain relief is acceptable.

Amy - posted on 02/10/2010

Well, i was an extremist when pregnant. I didn't even have coffee. So eek, I wouldn't have alcohol. I even rarely had sugar. My family even makes wine. I smelled it! It smelled good, but was told by fam that even if a woman has wine in europe, it's diluted with water by half and then they only have one glass a week.