That topic no one wants to talk about.
With recent new studies on the effects of drinking while pregnant the controversial topic is all over parenting sites, forums, and facebook again. It's the elephant in the room that no one wants to mention and as soon as you do, you've started something you wish you'd never brought up, like I will after this article post.
According to BJOG (Internation Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) new Danish studies suggest that low and moderate drinking in early pregnancy has no adverse effects on children aged 5 and under.
However lower attention spans in 5 year old's were linked to drinking high levels of alcohol per week during pregnancy. Low average weekly alcohol consumption was defined as 1-4 drinks per week, moderate being 5-8 drinks per week and high levels being 9 or more drinks per week. Binge drinking was defined as 5 or more drinks in one sitting. But remember the article states drinking in EARLY pregnancy, so what does that mean for mums who carry on low and moderate drinking after early pregnancy?
Well, even with these studies the authors of the papers urged that there still wasn't enough known about drinking during pregnancy and that it remains the most conservative advice for women to abstain drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
No matter what the studies suggest woman will always do what they feel most comfortable no matter what they've been told. For example, In the first trimester I had three glasses of red wine in one sitting but at the time I was unaware that I was pregnant. When I found out the midwife reassured me that this was common and very unlikely that it would react negatively on the pregnancy. After this I didn't touch alcohol again until my second trimester, where I had one or two sips from my other half's red wine glass during dinner (at home) as I had been steadily craving it. I have only let myself sip red wine, as some studies suggest is better than drinking white wine. So I had no more than 1 to 3 sips over a generous amount of time every two or so weeks.
Basically I wont drink anything that I wouldn't give my newborn child, because effectively that's what I'm doing when ingesting something during pregnancy. I don't expect all mothers or anyone else to follow that statement, it's just my personal preference and what helps ME not to drink during pregnancy. I'm not going to be upset if I hear that my pregnant friend decided she was still having a glass of wine with dinner every other day during her pregnancy, that's what she's comfortable with. That being said, it doesn't mean I will be happy if she try's make me do the same, then she's over stepped a line I was respectful enough not to cross with her decision.
With recent new studies on the effects of drinking while pregnant the controversial topic is all over parenting sites, forums, and facebook again. It's the elephant in the room that no one wants to mention and as soon as you do, you've started something you wish you'd never brought up, like I will after this article post.
According to BJOG (Internation Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) new Danish studies suggest that low and moderate drinking in early pregnancy has no adverse effects on children aged 5 and under.
However lower attention spans in 5 year old's were linked to drinking high levels of alcohol per week during pregnancy. Low average weekly alcohol consumption was defined as 1-4 drinks per week, moderate being 5-8 drinks per week and high levels being 9 or more drinks per week. Binge drinking was defined as 5 or more drinks in one sitting. But remember the article states drinking in EARLY pregnancy, so what does that mean for mums who carry on low and moderate drinking after early pregnancy?
Well, even with these studies the authors of the papers urged that there still wasn't enough known about drinking during pregnancy and that it remains the most conservative advice for women to abstain drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
No matter what the studies suggest woman will always do what they feel most comfortable no matter what they've been told. For example, In the first trimester I had three glasses of red wine in one sitting but at the time I was unaware that I was pregnant. When I found out the midwife reassured me that this was common and very unlikely that it would react negatively on the pregnancy. After this I didn't touch alcohol again until my second trimester, where I had one or two sips from my other half's red wine glass during dinner (at home) as I had been steadily craving it. I have only let myself sip red wine, as some studies suggest is better than drinking white wine. So I had no more than 1 to 3 sips over a generous amount of time every two or so weeks.
Basically I wont drink anything that I wouldn't give my newborn child, because effectively that's what I'm doing when ingesting something during pregnancy. I don't expect all mothers or anyone else to follow that statement, it's just my personal preference and what helps ME not to drink during pregnancy. I'm not going to be upset if I hear that my pregnant friend decided she was still having a glass of wine with dinner every other day during her pregnancy, that's what she's comfortable with. That being said, it doesn't mean I will be happy if she try's make me do the same, then she's over stepped a line I was respectful enough not to cross with her decision.
So the question I'm dreading but so want to ask is... what are your thoughts on drinking during pregnancy?
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