Would You Drink for Two?

There are so many studies done that contradict each other. At one point they say its bad, then they say its ok. Not just with drinking but other studies on other issues. However I feel as though I would rather not expose my child to anything that I can control if there could be a possiblity of harm. i think mothers now are selfish and are more concerned with themselves and not their children. What a world we live in.

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Maybe someone does have a drink and their child is born healthy. However why chance it. Could you really live wit yourself if something was wrong with your child when they were born. I would always wonder if I contributed to the issues they have. But again maybe some people are soo selfish they feel their needs come before the health and safety of their child.

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Oh come on people. They are not talking about drinking every day, or even every week. But, seriously, I had a glass of champagne for New Year's Eve when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant. Does anyone really believe that it could cause fetal alcohol syndrome? Of course not. But I got lectured by so many people about how evil I was.

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if you cant give up drinking or smoking for 9 months for the health of your unborn child then you are the most selfish person in the world. I gave it all up and have never been sorry.

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My first son was born in 1978 and I remember my doctor saying that a glass of wine now and then was fine. Some literature even said an occassional glass of wine was GOOD for you. I don't know ... all my kids grew up strong, healthy and smart. None of them had any learing issues and now I'm a grandmother.

How did all of us Boomers live such long, healthy lives? Our mothers smoked and drank alchohol. I never knew a single "special needs" child growing up. None of us were obese. None of us had allergies. Our kids grew up fine.

It seems that only since all of these "safeguards" were put in place and the health police took over, telling everyone what they should or should not eat or do, that a generation of children with all sorts of health and intellectual issues emerged.

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My doctor told me that it was most important to avoid alcohol in the first three months, that after that point everything was formed and was simply growing and maturing. Besides, I think the article was referring to a lady having a little alcohol (like a glass of wine) very rarely, and never in great quantities. I may have had 2 or 3 glasses of wine, during the entire space of months 4-9, and my children are very high IQ with no behavioral issues, no developmental issues,...no problems. I never would have had more than one glass, and certainly would not have had hard liquor.

However, I must say, just for debate purposes, I know a family friend who both mom and dad were huge drug and alcohol addicts, and amazingly, thank the Lord, their children are bright, not deformed, not retarded...no problems. This has always caused me to wonder if some people are more predisposed to causing injury to a child with alcohol or drugs...maybe the difference in the way different bodies metabolize alcohol.

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I'm kind of with you, Shelly. Part of me wonders if we may not be subjected to greater harm due to all the over-processed, chemical-filled food we eat now.

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the adverse effects if drinking while pregnant don't become obsolete after a certain period of time. even when the child is just "growing", the brain is still developing. and because the baby is still so small, even small amounts of alcohol affect it. you wouldn't give an infant wine, or beer, or anything. the brain can be negatively impacted by alcohol until the age of twenty three.

oh, and doctors never used to say anything about drinking back in the day because they didn't know. but back then doctors didn't know alot of things. why risk it?

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Yes getting hammered is probably not a great idea when you are pregnant... however as with most things in the US people go WAY overboard with their reccomendations.

My Mother drank beer and wine as prescribed by her OB to help her relax. She drank occassionally with all 4 of us kids who were born between 1958 and 1965. She also smoked a pack a day with each of us. Not one of us was low birthweight, all between 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 pounds and all were full term. No brain damage either. We grew up to be a theater teacher, a special education teacher, a journalist and a one who works in human services assisting families of children with Autism.

My friends and I all drank while pregnant. Half of us smoked as well.
Out of the 6 of us we have a total of 15 kids. Only one was earlie by a week and 5lbs 1 ounce.. The rest were full term and normal weights.
The ONLY One with any special needs is my son with Autism.Which came not from me having a few drinks but from him recieving the MMR vaccine when he was sick.

People need to get a grip and not get all crazy about pregnant women having a glass of wine or a beer here or there.

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Kristi,

Your doctor told you to have an occaisional beer during breast feeding because beer contains brewer's yeast which is high in nutrients, particularly Vitamin B. However, modern beers are much lighter on the brewer's yeast so this advice no longer holds for nursing mothers. Now adays in order to receive the benefits of the brewer's yeast you just buy the yeast itself (any health food/vitamin store or online) and mix a little with some juice or water. It is an amazing aid to stimulate the production of breast milk.

As far as the original issue of drinking while pregnant: remember the old adage "give them an inch and they will take a mile". I question whether some of these women, thinking that it is ok to have a drink NOW AND THEN, will soon be drinking on a daily basis. Best, I think, to avoid alcohol altogether. I don't understand all of the responses saying that they had children in the 70's and it was considered ok to have a drink. I had my children in 73, 76, and 81. It was never considered ok to drink during my pregnancies. My doctor advised me that once I started attempting to get pregnant to stop drinking at that point. I was also told not to use hair dye, stay away from chemicals, no nail polish, eat primarily organic (I grew my own anyway) produce, etc. And I did all of those things. Thank goodness my children are healthy and happy adults now. My daughters and my daughter in laws all follow the same thinking. For our family, children are a priority!

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I think this article is totally irresponsible. I am four months pregnant and I would not even conceive of having a sip of wine, because the effects may not be seen during childhood but during the adult hood. I believe that if you can not abstain from drinking in a nine month period, you have some serious growing up to do. Unfortunately, many young mothers feel differently and perhaps justify to themselves that one or two drinks can't hurt the baby, but you have no way of knowing until the baby is born and begins to have issues in their lives (and it all could because the mother needed a drink). What a shame.

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You want the same benefits as wine, but not the alcohol? Drink grape juice. I'm sure there are non-alcoholic beverages that are the equivalent of beer too.

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If what some of you are posting is true, then I would venture a guess that over 2/3 of the world-wide population is suffering from some sort of "fetal-something-syndrome".
What did our Moms and Grandmas do back in the day without this vital information? And what about other countries that don't have access to the experts here on aol? Their kids are doomed, I guess.
Mom and Grandma had a little drink every now and then...and a few cigarettes too...and second-hand smoke from Dad and Grandpa...and, uh oh, here comes some steak or liver. And guess what? The kids came out just fine! Your kid doesn't have some learning disability from that glass of wine you drank in your second trimester...he's just being a kid and getting away with not doing the work because you bought into the whole "time-out" thing. Most kids actually suffer from a "lazy-parent-syndrome". So expectant mom has a glass of wine...big deal...probably less harmful to the unborn kid than the stress of someone yelling at her about the evils of drinking while pregnant.

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I was the youngest of 4 and I was born in 1963. My mother was a psychotic drunk,but maintained her lovely middle class facade so nicely until she was behind closed doors.. My father was the only reason me and my 3 older siblings turned out as well as we did.
My sister told me back in the 90's that my mother drank heavy while she was pregnant with me...I have had my issues in life..I am ok..I could be worse,but that fact that I found out my mother drank while she was pregnant with me pretty much sealed the deal and even though I had already stopped having much to do with her,I then really just quit worrying about her...I saw her about 4 years ago as she lay dying from alzheimers and then about a month ago went to her funeral..did'nt shed a tear...went and had a margarita in her honor LOL...Hope you drinkers get the same treatment from your kids someday...

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I had only one child, born in 1969. Since I worked in a hospital, I was lucky enough to get an OB who was considered the best in my city. He told me to not drink too much or wear high heels for I might fall and hurt the baby. I wasn't much of a drinker but I did go to a few parties during my pregnancy and have a few drinks. I smoked all the way through the pregnancy too for it was not taboo then. That topic never came up as most everyone smoked then. My son was born very healthy and hates cigarette smoke to this day. Also, I did not breast feed. It was considered mostly back then for the poor people, so those who could afford it used Infamil Formula, came in bottles already sterilized! I was the first in my group of friends to use Pampers since they were a brand new product (had to use diaper pins with them!). Things were easier then, not so much worry. My son is the healthiest person I have ever known and is 42 now. I think he had has 2 colds in his life. We are all different and hope the end result comes out the same, a healthy, happy baby! A few drinks, much tobacco and no breast feeding. Maybe I was lucky along with my girlfriends and their kids. Just sayin' RELAX, do what your Dr. says and don't worry so much. Enjoy this precious time.

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I have been raising my grndchild from age 2 who is now 12 and is a victim of fetal alcohol consumption of his bio-mother My daughter thought it was ok to consume alcohol during her pregnancy with him. Do you care to take that risk? Believe me..it's not worth it. I see my child cry when others don't understand him and don't want him as a friend or if a girl rejects him as a boyfriend, they call him wierd, he attends a special school at the tune of $13,000 a year,and what of his adult years? and the list goes on... Really? Ya can't just stay away from it for 9 months for your baby, eventually your teen, eventualy your adult child? Then you need some rehabbin' !

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Why take the chance? Are some women so addicted to wine that they can't abstain for 9 months just to be extra sure they don't harm their babies? Sounds like a problem to me, especially if the baby turns out to have problems. Imagine the guilt.

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An occasional glass of wine or beer after the first trimester will not hurt anything. Yes, Europeans take a more laid back approach to pregnancy, and quite frankly, so did Americans up until, probably, the late 1980's. Then, the powers that be decided drinking a drop of alcohol at any time during pregnancy was bad. That suggestion snowballed into mass hysteria about drinking during pregnancy like so many ideas we Americans get carried away with. Our society is militant on what it thinks is right or wrong for every single person in every situation. Damn. We're downright militant, if we're anything.

The first trimester is the most important growth period for a pregnancy to establish itself securely, and it is when all the basic structures are forming. Yet how many women have had way too much to drink, on too many nights, before they found out they were pregnant? And thank goodness, most of the time everything turned out fine. But women are more careful about what they do and how they take care of themselves when they know they are in the early stages of pregnancy. After the first trimester, a drink once in a while is fine. Wine or beer, not heavy alcohol. As for those of you screaming about fetal alcohol syndrome, it is a classic American example of the way we make everyone pay the price and shoulder the guilt for the few who drink so much during pregnancy they afflict their children before birth.

For a little more than a decade now, we have decided that pregnancy is some exalted state which entitles us to get special parking spaces... like the handicapped! Adjusting to life with a new baby is extremely hard and it is a total change in lifestyle, so we now have a diagnosis for that difficult adjustment... postpartum depression, for which we need special treatment, drugs & counseling. We get more maternity leave than any other country on the planet and use pregnancy as an excuse for everything from staying fat forever after having a baby to acting like put-out, mistreated, petulant children because we have to take care of our own babies. Not only can we not have a glass of wine, we cannot have a cup of coffee, sushi (again, this is an American standard, as Japanese women do not stop eating sushi when pregnant), honey, unpasteurized juices (that would include freshly squeezed fruit juice and fresh coconut water), herbal tea, limited green tea, mackerel, shark, swordfish, brie, feta, blue cheese, Mexican cheeses like queso blanco, queso fresco and panela, our freakin' egg yolks have to be cooked FIRM, and the list goes on.

I would like to see our society swing back from the extremes of no pregnancy guidelines on the one hand, and police-state guidelines on the other hand, to treating pregnancy like a normal event and using common sense & moderation in making choices while pregnant without being socially vilified for choices like having a glass of wine.

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I don't think that drinking a glass of red or white wine would hurt a new born baby it could help the mother and the baby relax . If the mother has a bad medicial history then NO WAY should she DRINK the WINE.

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