Rachel Weisz: it's okay to drink while pregnant

This does seem to fall under the American tradition of "all or nothing." I lived for years in Europe (Frnace, Germany, and Ireland) and pregnant women who have one beer or one glass of wine with dinner is commonplace. An American OBGYN friend of mine also says that one glass of wine with a meal is absolutely fine. She says (off the record, of course) that the recommendations are always WAY on the safe side, because the medical community doesn't trust people to know how to do anything in moderation, so they always err on the side of caution. There have been studies on non-pregnant people that show that one glass of alcohol is actually healthier than abstention. The rest of the world seems to be able to handle the "just one" rule, but we don't. That's the real question. Why do so many people need to drink with the goal to get drunk, and not just to enjoy the one drink?

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My ob told me "off the record" to have some wine to stop early contractions in my 7 month. She told me a small glass or two a week was no big deal.

A girlfriend of mine just moved back from Europe and drank a glass of wine or a beer each night with dinner and she says that it's the norm.

Some say yay and some say nay. What reports are correct? As long as my next pregnancy is ok, I know I probably won't imbibe in a small glass here or there just in case.

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I agree that people should be able to drink "just one". My question is why do women have to have that one? If there's even the slightest chance that it could harm the baby, why would you take that risk?

Sure, most people who drink and drive do so without getting into accidents, so is that okay? Most of the time, if you leave your bicycle outside, even in the city, it will still be there in the morning, would you do that?

It comes down to the cost of risk avoidance. How much is it worth to go from even a itty-bitty little bit of risk to zero? Is alcohol so necessary that it can be given up for nine months? Is that such an unbearable sacrifice?

I guess I don't get it. I used to spend a lot of money (back before I had kids, when I had some money) on very good beer and wine. I gave that up with no problem when I needed to. I like beer. I like wine. But I don't like it more than I like my kids. No matter how small the risk of FAS, I can't see how any amount of any drink would be worth it.

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I hate to tell that obstetrician that she certainly hasn't been keeping up with my husband's research into developmental immunotoxicology. No period in pregnancy is safe at all...PERIOD. The baby may survive and no longer be in danger of miscarrying after 3 months, but the human immune system doesn't begin to develop and mature until the THIRD trimester. At this point in time tobacco, alcohol, Prozac and even genestein found in soy can permanently disrupt the immune system causing lifelong chronic illnesses.

It really is time for doctors the world over to take a reading vacation, dig into the journals and start updating their knowledge so the generations to come have a chance at a quality life.

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I am actually glad that she said what she did because now maybe more women will come and say that they had the occasional glass of wine while pregnant. Abusing alcohol is one thing, but the odd sip of wine late in pregnancy...please. I absolutely avoided alcohol during the first half of my pregnancies, but did enjoy the occassional *small* glass wine or champagne with dinner (maybe twice a month if that) during my late 2nd and 3rd trimesters. And like the commenters above, this was with my OB's "ok." Rachel Weisz is right, "In Europe they drink it."

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Please if you are tempted to drink while pregnant or nursing, read the new brain research. Or watch the videos of the fetal development in utereo. It is an amazing process....and gives one more idea how a drug....any drug(but alcohol is one of the worst) can impact the child's physical and cognitive development. I know my mom told me to drink wine while nursing...to help me relax-But that doesn't make it okay. When babies are born their bodies for the most part are complete (the hand just gets bigger over time) BUT the brain is not done- and the first 3 years of life are very important. If you want to drink or party or just focus on what you want in your life, maybe it isn't the time to have a child. Not every one needs to be a parent.

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All things in moderation, and moderation in all things. That other women can't stop at just one small glass of wine is not my issue. If I am at a wedding and want a glass of champagne (the best I've ever tasted, as we were in France at the time and it's MUCH better there), or if I want to have a baked apple with rum in the sauce (as I did tonight, in fact), it's not going to hurt anything. I also eat soft cheese and deli meats, though, so maybe I'm living on the edge. I figure that people had perfectly successful pregnancies all the time when wine/beer was the ONLY safe beverage available because the water wasn't potable. We all managed to survive before there were all these experts bossing us around.

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If pregnant women were to avoid everything that carried even the slightest risk of harming the baby, we'd be living in bubbles with purified air, required to always lay on our left sides to provide maximum blood flow and given sterile meals that were nutritionally optimized for us.

And were that the case, I'd choose to never be pregnant.

Everything carries a risk. Driving my car while pregnant carries the risk that I could be hit by another driver and damage the baby. And while I don't go out of my way to take risks, I do have to accept some level of risk.

I'm not saying I'm going to booze it up while pregnant. I have no intention of that. But I happen to really like wine, and if, during the holidays, I am offered a glass of wine at a holiday dinner, I might accept it and drink a small amount. I know how to enjoy wine without guzzling a bottle's worth.

Like others, my OB has said that there is a risk, but that the chances of a tiny amount of alcohol (like a single 4oz. glass of wine) doing any harm are extremely slim. We'd be in more danger of getting hit by a drunk driver on the way home. But since many in the US don't understand the meaning of the word "moderation", it is safer to tell everyone that pregnant women shouldn't have one single drop.

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Everyone has their own comfort levels when it comes to drinking while pregnant. Some prefer not to while others don't mind. To each to her own. I felt comfortable drinking red wine while pregnant, just a glass every now and then. Even my midwife recommended it to prevent premature labor. Beer was also recommended while breastfeeding to help increase milk production.

Now, my question is why is a glass of wine a big NO-NO and an epidural is okay? Research has shown that when a woman receives an epidural, it has an effect on the baby. But I don't see anyone complaining about that as much as the wine issue.

Like Christine says, we all live with risks in our lives. The air we breathe is full of chemicals, the water we drink is not 100% pure and the food that we eat is full of preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and other junk. And some of you are worried about ONE glass of wine? Life is too short; enjoy it (within reason, of course) while you can. =)

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i'm ever on the side of everything in moderation.

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My OB suggested I have a glass of wine to help me relax when I was about 7.5 months along last time. I didn't follow her advice. It wasn't worth the risk, no matter how slight. If my child had been born with an alcohol-related problem I know I would not have been able to handle the guilt. To each their own, of course. It just wasn't the right thing for me.

I'm not drinking this time either. Or eating sushi, which I really miss. As for the soft cheese mentioned above, as long as it's pasteurized there's no problem at all. And cheese sold in the US is pasteurized.

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In America, our doctors do not trust us enough to condone responsible intake of wine/beer during pregnancy. You can't really blame them- their malpractice insurance is so high as it is because people sue for any damn reason they can come up with.

We are overexamining the issue here. We're not talking about binge drinking or even daily drinking. We're talking about a glass of wine every once in a while. It's fine.

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I adopted a beautiful boy whose mom drank when she was pregnant. He is not Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). No facial characteristics to give away my boy's problem. As he has grown older the frustration of memory loss, inability to assess risk or recognize cause and effect relationships, or perform the higher level cognitive functions of progressively harder school work have brought upon this young man a diagnosis of "Oppositional Defiant Disorder." His inability to think adequately makes him behave with attention deficiency - he's just frustrated - he can't get it together like other kids can. His cognitive shortcomings make him more vulnerable and isolated. Like I said, he is handsome. Looks just perfect. His brain is damaged and his life is harder. As we look toward his adulthood we see the type of guy that blows up, can't hold a job, can't understand what's going wrong in his relationship, gives up in frustration... Pregnant women who are contemplating drinking should spend one sobering evening researching Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

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Americans make up only 300 million of the six billion people in the world, we go to doctors more frequently than almost anyone else, and we are still considered some of the unhealthiest people and the world. And you people still trust doctors!?!?! I am a little more apt to trust a seasoned homeotherapist. If you are not going to have a glass of wine, don't take any tylenol either...

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We all know how awful fetal alcohol syndrome is, but does anyone know the statistics for fetal alcohol syndrome statistics? How many babies are born with it from mothers who drank heavily? And how many babies are born with it from mothers who drank a glass three glasses of wine a week?

I think more accurate information would be helpful.

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The only reason US doctors say this is fear of law suits. European doctors don't deal with people that sue for every little thing like Americans do. It's perfectly safe.

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I'm just frustrated with the attention this has gotten for a woman who is obviously not some psychopath. She was raised in a different culture and raised that a glass of wine here or there is fine. Who are we to judge her? The media stomps on her like she's some criminal. I understand that there are many children out there with FAS, but if you look at the mother's who gave birth to them, they were binge drinking alcoholics! Let's again get some perspective. That Nyquil the doctor's told me is safe has more alcohol than half of a beer!

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You know, all of your parents and my parents certainly had the occasional drink during pregnancy. Do you feel developmentally disabled? Do you think you got the shaft because your folks drank? The research is crap, that's all there is to it. Use some common sense.

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There is absolutely no scientific evidence that suggests alcohol here and there has any effect on a childs brain. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are cases of excessive alcohol abuse before and during pregnancy. And even then, we are talking a case of beer per day. EXCESSIVE. People are too uptight.

Rachel said nothing wrong.

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i was wondering the same thing about this. my dr gave me a piece of paper that said vicodin is OK during pregnancy. now if vicodin is ok i think the occasionaly glass of wine may calm your nerves during pregnancy.

moderation is key and i think that americans are holier then thou and should take lessons from other countries. we may not be so fat or cranky!

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