Drinking Alcohol During Pregnancy

How much is too much?

When it comes to drinking alcohol during pregnancy, not enough is known about the potentially harmful effects alcohol can have on the developing baby. For this reason, experts advise pregnant women to avoid alcohol entirely for the duration of the pregnancy. Women trying to conceive are also advised to steer clear of the hard stuff.

Will alcohol harm my baby?

Alcohol enters your blood and can cross the placenta to your developing baby. Your baby’s liver does not mature until late in the pregnancy. Your baby can’t process alcohol as well as you, and may experience higher levels of blood alcohol than you. Too much exposure to alcohol can harm your baby’s development, so experts advise women to avoid alcohol during pregnancy.

During the first three months of pregnancy, even low levels of alcohol consumption can increase the risk of miscarriage. During the first trimester, the foetus is believed to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. Just one drink a day can put your baby at risk of low birth weight and increase his risk of developing learning and attention problems, speech and language difficulties and hyperactivity.

Foetal alcohol syndrome

Foetal alcohol syndrome is a serious condition caused by excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Symptoms include:

facial abnormalities
restricted growth
learning disorders
behavioural disorders

Because experts don’t know the alcohol consumption level that can begin to cause these abnormalities, they suggest abstaining from all alcohol during pregnancy.

Giving up alcohol

For some women, giving up alcohol for the duration of the pregnancy will be easy. For others, however, it can prove more of a challenge. If you are struggling to give up drinking alcohol during pregnancy, you may find the following advice useful:

talk about your feelings – talking about how you feel can help you to deal effectively with your emotions. Rather than feeling ashamed or bottling up your struggles, open up to your friends and family. They may be able to offer advice or assistance to help you avoid alcohol.
find a drink you like – you don’t need to spend each evening begrudgingly sipping tap water, find a non-alcoholic drink you enjoy. There are plenty of fruit juices, flavoured waters and soft drinks for you to choose from.
avoid tempting situations – if you are finding it very difficult to avoid alcohol, you may find avoiding certain social situations helps you to stay in control. This doesn’t mean you have to become a hermit and miss out on all the fun, but perhaps you should call it a night before your friends break out the tequila bottle.
ask for help – it’s ok to find things difficult, not everything in life is easy. If you’re battling with giving up alcohol, speak to your healthcare provider. They are best placed to offer you practical advice and support to help you avoid alcohol.

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2017. All rights reserved.

Is Red Wine Safe During Pregnancy?

Decades ago women smoked and drank alcohol during pregnancy. Not because they wanted to injure their babies, but because there wasn’t enough research to show that alcohol and tobacco use were harmful to an unborn baby. In other words, they didn’t know any better. In fact, your mom may have smoked, or enjoyed a daily nightcap while she was pregnant with you and you were a healthy baby, right?

Now we know better. We know that everything we put into our bodies while we are pregnant, has a direct effect on our unborn baby. Still, there have been many rumors and myths in regard to the safety of drinking minimal amounts of red wine during pregnancy. Some women have been told that it was not just okay, but healthy – while others have been told that it is a complete no-no and ALL alcohol should be avoided.

Still today, even with the studies of fetal alcohol syndrome (which involves large amount of alcohol consumption) many women are still confused. Some doctors today say yay, while others say nay. “The problem with drinking alcohol during your pregnancy is that there is no amount that has been proven to be safe,” says Jacques Moritz, MD, director of gynecology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Additionally, David Garry, DO, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and chair of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Task Force for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists District II/NY, agrees. He says that researchers don’t know enough about the potential effects of drinking alcohol at particular times during the pregnancy to be able to say that any time is really safe. It’s also difficult to predict the impact of drinking on any given pregnancy because some women have higher levels of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol.

So, is red wine safe during pregnancy? If you are considering that glass of red wine – then the best thing for you to do is talk to your doctor first and see what he or she says. Without knowing ALL the facts about the effects of alcohol, even in small amounts, during pregnancy – avoidance is perhaps the best answer to the question. Nine months is a short period of time to give up alcohol!

The human body and the miracle of pregnancy is something that will never be fully, 100% understood. Learn as much as you can about your growing baby. Taking risks may just not be worth it!

Written By Stef, Mom of 4 @Momspirational