Gwyneth Paltrow likes her Guinness

I agree that drinking heavily during pregnancy, especially in first trimester, is very dangerous to the developing brain of a fetus. However, a glass every so often in the last trimester is not going to do anything. It's like in adults, a glass or two of wine is beneficial whereas anything more is detrimental. I know more women taking antidepressants throughout their pregnancy which is a lot more disturbing to me than an occasional glass of beer or wine.

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Who cares?

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No one really knows how much or how little alcohol consumption is damaging to an unborn baby. I, personally, would not risk it. FAS is so sad. I just wouldn't be willing to take that chance.

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I just have to comment. Mother is 83 year old. She had scar tissue blocking her fallopian tubes due to a ruptured appendix when she was 19. She had multiple painful procedures to clear them , but ultimately there was nothing more the doctors could do. Eight years after adopting my brother and 5 years after adopting my sister...all the while drinking and smoking, as that was the norm back in the 60s...at 41,they thought she was starting menopause. The doctors discovered, however, that she was almost 6 months pregnant with me! She stopped smoking and drinking immediately, even though it wasn't so taboo back then. I was born a month premature, and weighed 4 pounds...a very big deal back then. I was in an incubator for quite some time. You'd think this was all a bad situation, wouldn't you?

I am here at the age of 41 to tell you this: I walked at 6 months, got high honors all through school, graduated law school, and have an IQ somewhere between 155 and 165. You tell me, is it all about how careful we are with what we consume while we're pregnant, or does it have more to do with our attitudes and our lifestyles and, dare I say, all the crap we think is so healthy now that is forced on us by society to try to be healthy with, but actually contains more pesticides and steroids and everything else that it comes into contact with making it's way to our tables?

I have to say that I believe every situation is different, and I firmly believe that everything, and I mean everything, happens for a reason. I believe you can be fastidious and work your butt off to try to do the right thing all the time, and still end up with the short end of the stick. I also believe, by seeing, that some people go about their lives not worrying about anything but themselves, and everything always seems to work out for them. Finally, I believe that those of us who do struggle are better for it, and those who breeze through life are left without any depth to them.

Note: Although I am a lawyer, please do not take that to mean that I have money and a great life. I am broke and struggle every day like most americans to try to get a better life for my kids, while trying to do the right thing and not step on anyone else to get it...doesn't make for a rich lawyer...lol ;)

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What is wrong with you people? Alcohol, even 1 drink or less while you are pregnant, is wrong. Period. Case closed.

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To those who say an occasional drink will be a way to de-stress (for the baby's sake) are definately looking for the chemical fast fix...
There are hundreds of ways of relaxing (yoga, mediation,etc.) that dont require taking a drink. Having a drink of whatever proportion is not in the baby's best interest, but simply in the mothers.

Find a natural way to de-stress.

We will never know the exact amount of alcohol that is safe in a pregnancy...because every woman's body carries alcohol differently,badies have different immune systems, etc. One glass may cause a birth defect, 3 or 4 glasses may produce a healthy baby.

Bottom line: People can continue to justify their "drinking in moderation" as long as they want (as long as they have a healthy child).

But the inconceivable sad stories that I see pass through my practice, babies with FAS, each with different stories to tell, will continue.

Why risk your baby's health?
Think twice. I know many mothers who wish they had.

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Whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow, or anyone else for that matter, has a Guinness, eats Sushi or Cheerios, goes to the beach or the bathroom, is frankly no one else's business! Americans today have this misplaced idea that they are entitled to know everything about everyone who happens to be in the public eye and to see pictures of everything (and everyone!) they do!

Sadly, we have become an extremely rude, nosey, and impatient society, which is increasingly to our detriment. If we focused on improving ourselves and treating others nicely for just half the time that we spend making judgements about others, we would have a much more pleasant culture in which to live and raise our children!

We do not have a proprietary interest in the lives of celebrities; they deserve their privacy as much as anyone else does.

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Well, Dr. Annie, you are wrong. So there. Thhhhhp.

Seriously, though, you are wrong. There isn't any evidence at all that 1 drink or less while you are pregnant is even the slightest bit dangerous.

You know what is really dangerous to our children that you can bend your head around? Poverty. War. Crime. Poor education. Racism. Homophobia. Bad or no prenatal care. STDs.

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I think that if a celebrity or if anyone at all wants to drink while they are pegnant then that is their discretion. Sometimes doctor's do allow certain amounts or types of alcohol to be consumed in the earlier months. You never know what the person's case is, at least their not snorting powders of doing illegal drugs.

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The fact of the matter is that hardly any doctors and no drug companies are concerned with anyone's health. If we were all healthy, where would they be. The best thing for you and for your baby is that you eat well, exercise, drink water, and have a positive attitude- before, during, and after your pregnancy.

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She should know better. Drinking alcohol in your pregnancy is dangerous no matter how small the amount. Why risk it? Some posts on this board are saying that it is a different culture for her. She is from the US, she is not from a different country or culture. She is just an overrated actress who believes that it does not matter what she does or who she harms. Point in case; her unborn child. Why should she care, she will have her little fruitcake and then pass it off to her string of nannies who will deal with it's abnormalities, while Gwyneth takes all the credit for being a wonderful hands on mother. Give me a break.

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Amen Janie! I am also sick and tired of everyone trying to preach to anyone how to live life. Educate, and leave the choice to the individual. Think about how many generations of women were drinking martinis and smoking like a chimney way before we "knew" the effects....how many FAS cases come from the 40's - 60's? I am certain we have more today. I think there many many unknown factors involved in FAS beyond alcohol consumption. I agree that if there are preventable choices, prudent humans choose to take those paths, but to judge and criticize when there are many many pregnant women who have imbibed occasionally and safely is crossing the line! If you have enough time to be judging others for their behaviors, I suggest you need to take up a healthy hobby!

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This is a fascinating finding, as the proportion of the population that drinks alcohol in other parts of the western world and the per capita consumption of alcohol is much higher than in the United States. This has been referred to as the American Paradox since it is likely linked to the fact that the United States has both more abstainers and more heavy drinkers compared with France and many other parts of the western world ( Abel 1998 a , 1998 b ) . Therefore, it is not the prevalence of all drinkers or the amounts that they drink over a long period in European countries, but rather the proportion of drinkers who consume substantially large quantities in a short time period that elevates the frequency of occurrence of the major and most severe FAS symptoms, which make up the diagnosis of FAS.

For example, French researchers ( Rostand et al. 1990) reported that craniofacial morphology was a sensitive indicator of alcohol exposure in utero and that alcoholic consumption was associated with negative effects on infant weight, length, and head circumference. On the other hand, a study in Australia by Walpole and colleagues (1990) failed to show any significant relationship between low to moderate maternal alcohol intake and fetal outcome. Therefore, in spite of the similar pattern of anomalies associated with low and moderate levels of alcohol consumed during pregnancy, studies outside the United States continue to illustrate the American Paradox described by Abel ( 1998 a ) , where low to moderate use of alcohol (defined liberally as less than 21 drinks per week by Rostand and colleagues [1990]) does not result in FAS or symptoms as severe as those reported in U. S. studies

Estimating the Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A Summary
Philip A. May, Ph. D. , and J. Phillip Gossage, Ph. D.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-3/159-167.htm

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