Wine while prego

[chamise]

Look at the Europeans. Do they drink wine while pregnant? It's also what you're used to.

Japanese women eat sushi while pregnant. I wouldn't though because sushi isn't a regular part of my diet.

[mrseum]

I will not. One mother can drink 1 glass and her baby will be perfectly fine- but another mother can drink that one glass & her baby will have FAS. There is no true known amount. To each their own, it's just not worth the possible risk to me.

[Sarah-B]

I am currently 17 weeks preg with baby #2

When I do go into labor this time I plan in having a 1/2 glass of wine (before I go into the hospital) to knock the edge off.
My midwife said that is fine.

I will not drink (and haven't drank alcohol this pregnancy or any pregnancy) until labor begins

[Palooka]

Originally Posted by mrseum I will not. One mother can drink 1 glass and her baby will be perfectly fine- but another mother can drink that one glass & her baby will have FAS. There is no true known amount. To each their own, it's just not worth the possible risk to me.

Can you cite a study?

When I was pregnant the first time I spent weeks researching this using google scholar, and luckily I still had access to tons of journals from my previous job at a lab in Northwestern. I could not find any study that showed 1 glass of wine, or even 1 glass of wine per week throughout pregnancy, had a negative effect on the fetus. Certainly never found anything saying 1 glass of wine can cause FAS! In fact, as a biologist I was consistently amused to find articles with grave titles proclaiming the negative impact of alcohol consumption on birthweight/sperm count/cognitive development, etc. But then when I read the study results the authors either didn't breakdown alcohol consumption by amount (ie 1 unit of alcohol in a week vs 10 units in a week), or there was no statistically significant difference between those mothers who abstained and those who had 1-1.5 units per week.

If you want I can try to find the articles again, but there was a very large british study with several years of follow-up in which they found no developmental differences between children of mothers who abstained vs mothers who had a small (1-1.5 units/week) amount of alcohol during pregnancy. In fact sometimes those children did better on certain cognitive tests (likely correlational, not causal). There was also an article about male-babies and sperm count, and despite a dire article title and abstract, the actual data showed higher sperm count in men whose mothers drank a small amount of alcohol while pregnant... but those results weren't discussed anywhere in the paper.

Why? Probably for the same reason that if I go to the NIH and tell them I want to do a study on the benefits of marijuana I am likely to be turned down for funding, whereas if I tell them I want to study the negative impact of marijuana I will almost certainly get funded. This marijuana-funding disparity was shown in a study published a few years ago, and it demonstrates what I think is a persistent problem in how medical research is funded, performed, and reported. The people who fund research have a vested interest in how it turns out--the NIH doesn't want marijuana research to make the drug look good, just like they don't want research on maternal alcohol consumption to look good. They aren't evil, they are just thinking about society rather than about science. Similarly if I write an article about how a little alcohol has no measurable or lasting impact on fetal health very few journals will want to publish my paper. Journals are accountable to their readership, and in the case of medicine (especially prenatal medicine) most of the readership is more interested in the societal impact of information than its scientific accuracy. Of course, the implication of this data-biasing is that pregnant women are either a) too stupid to know the difference between 1 glass of wine per week and several, or b) will decide that if 1 is okay then several are too, despite the data showing otherwise. I find both of these presumptions offensive, as do many modern clinicians. Which is why many younger OBs and midwives are more likely to present women with information, even as more established organizations push their unsubstantiated and extremist view. All this leads to fear and confusion in my opinion.

In summary: After reading lots of articles, looking at what other women do around the world, talking to my midwives, and thinking about the historical reality of alcohol -which is that until recently water was very unsafe to drink, especially while pregnant, and that's why humans created alcohol in the first place, alcohol kills microbes- I enjoy a glass of wine on occasion, with a meal.

[TheCoach'sWife]

Originally Posted by Palooka Can you cite a study? When I was pregnant the first time I spent weeks researching this using google scholar, and luckily I still had access to tons of journals from my previous job at a lab in Northwestern. I could not find any study that showed 1 glass of wine, or even 1 glass of wine per week throughout pregnancy, had a negative effect on the fetus. Certainly never found anything saying 1 glass of wine can cause FAS! In fact, as a biologist I was consistently amused to find articles with grave titles proclaiming the negative impact of alcohol consumption on birthweight/sperm count/cognitive development, etc. But then when I read the study results the authors either didn't breakdown alcohol consumption by amount (ie 1 unit of alcohol in a week vs 10 units in a week), or there was no statistically significant difference between those mothers who abstained and those who had 1-1.5 units per week. If you want I can try to find the articles again, but there was a very large british study with several years of follow-up in which they found no developmental differences between children of mothers who abstained vs mothers who had a small (1-1.5 units/week) amount of alcohol during pregnancy. In fact sometimes those children did better on certain cognitive tests (likely correlational, not causal). There was also an article about male-babies and sperm count, and despite a dire article title and abstract, the actual data showed higher sperm count in men whose mothers drank a small amount of alcohol while pregnant... but those results weren't discussed anywhere in the paper. Why? Probably for the same reason that if I go to the NIH and tell them I want to do a study on the benefits of marijuana I am likely to be turned down for funding, whereas if I tell them I want to study the negative impact of marijuana I will almost certainly get funded. This marijuana-funding disparity was shown in a study published a few years ago, and it demonstrates what I think is a persistent problem in how medical research is funded, performed, and reported. The people who fund research have a vested interest in how it turns out--the NIH doesn't want marijuana research to make the drug look good, just like they don't want research on maternal alcohol consumption to look good. They aren't evil, they are just thinking about society rather than about science. Similarly if I write an article about how a little alcohol has no measurable or lasting impact on fetal health very few journals will want to publish my paper. Journals are accountable to their readership, and in the case of medicine (especially prenatal medicine) most of the readership is more interested in the societal impact of information than its scientific accuracy. Of course, the implication of this data-biasing is that pregnant women are either a) too stupid to know the difference between 1 glass of wine per week and several, or b) will decide that if 1 is okay then several are too, despite the data showing otherwise. I find both of these presumptions offensive, as do many modern clinicians. Which is why many younger OBs and midwives are more likely to present women with information, even as more established organizations push their unsubstantiated and extremist view. All this leads to fear and confusion in my opinion. In summary: After reading lots of articles, looking at what other women do around the world, talking to my midwives, and thinking about the historical reality of alcohol -which is that until recently water was very unsafe to drink, especially while pregnant, and that's why humans created alcohol in the first place, alcohol kills microbes- I enjoy a glass of wine on occasion, with a meal.

I think you just gave me a lady boner. I pink sparkly heart science.

[sisu]

Originally Posted by mrseum ...but another mother can drink that one glass & her baby will have FAS...

There is absolutely no evidence to support that claim. FAS is caused by mothers who drink excessive amounts consistently throughout pregnancy. Studies have even shown that there are NO adverse effects in babies whose mothers drank as much a drink or two daily.

[trying4more]

I've took a sip of my BIL's home brew this Xmas.

DH is totally against me drinking at all. While I love mixed drinks and wine, so I sneak them when he's at work (not pregnant). I'll have some wine in the last week of pregnancy to help calm my nerves.

[Jomama2005]

Thank you all so much! This is very helpful. I used to think the exact same thing as the pp who said one glass may be ok for one and will cause fasd in another but dh didn't believe me haha and I found exactly what the other pp from northwestern said that there was really nothing that said one glass was bad and in fact may be helpful. But still I worry.

To the pp who mentioned weeks in pregnancy to wait is also super helpful. I think I'll hold off until week 25+ just to be safe.

Any other input for or against is welcome and greatly appreciated!

[hilaryisinked]

I didn't start drinking until last year so after my pregnancies but I would do it in moderation. I've drank in moderation while nursing for a year now too.

Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

[shan1212]

I had the occasional small glass of red wine starting at about 5 months with both of my pregnancies. Like others have said, I craved it, and my research didn't give me any cause for concern. I remember reading an article with a title like, "Even babies born to mothers who drank moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy show symptoms of FAD!" and then when I read the article, they defined "moderate drinking" as 2-5 drinks per day. In whose universe is 5 drinks a day "moderate" drinking, especially for a woman (we metabolize alcohol more slowly than men, sadly, plus we are often smaller, so we can't drink as much as men)? Half a glass here or there is fine, IMO. My girls are certainly none the worse for it.