Drinking and pregnant: can the two mix?
What I found most interesting about this one is that everyone can agree that a lot of alcohol is bad during pregnancy (I suppose it's bad all the time but we've all had our piss ups) but whether a drink here and there is detrimental differs.
Generally, in North America they take the stand that a lot is bad and we don't know what the tipping point is so stay away from it. Whereas, in Europe, they seem to say a drink or two here and there should be fine but don't get hosed.
I also found it very interesting that many blogs had hysterical women asking if they've done damage to their baby because they drank before they knew they were pregnant (hey, that's how most of us got pregnant so who are we kidding?) and many 'experts' said they would be fine but not to drink anymore. So, in North America anyway, if you drink without knowing you should be fine but if you know you're pregnant and drink you're putting your baby in harms way.
Is that a fart or do I smell judgement?
If I got pregnant again, I think I'd move to Europe and have my glass of wine with an assortment of cheese and laugh at the tourists wearing fanny packs.
As for breastfeeding and alcohol, drinking while breastfeeding does reduce milk production despite the popular wives tale that it increases it. Babies actually like the taste of milk with traces of booze in it so they suck longer which gives the impression that they are eating more when, in fact, they are actually getting an ounce less.
Alcohol does get into your milk however, once study tested a legally drunk woman's breastmilk and estimated that her baby's blood alcohol level would be 0.006% (somewhere between .08% and .10% is legally drunk in most states) so your baby could operate heavy machinery no problem.
Whether this small amount has any effect is still up for debate. One study showed a drink a day produced slightly lower motor development at 12 months of age, and another study showed that the more mom drank, the higher their children scored in general intelligence, motor development and personal-social development at 18 months. No one has studied getting shitfaced everyday and breastfeeding but I would suspect that would have other parenting implications and would skew the results.
Generally speaking, if you have a drink, it should diffuse out of your body, and your milk, in about 2 hours, depending on your weight (less time if you're heavier, more time if you're lighter) so there's no need to pump and dump. Plus, it looks like even if you're loaded, only trace amounts are getting to your baby.
Just don't drop the kid on its head because you've been doing keg stands all night. No one wants to read that Trainspotting headline for crying out loud.
search: alcohol pregnancy, drinking while pregnant, alcohol damaging fetus
42 Comments
Reader Comments (42)
I got drunk the weekend before I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. She was in there in all of her teensy, microscoping, embryonic glory but I didn't know it. And I went out, got sloshed, and danced at a gay bar. She's now a happy, fat, screaming 5 month old.
Just for the record, I think dancing in gay bars is an essential prenatal activity. Can I get a whistle and a rainbow?! Woot! Woot!
oh my god I love this site. I was on facebook tired of looking at my friends boring skinny faces as i begin to expand with my second child and found Pregnant Chicken. It is informative and entertaining at the same time.I feel like I am getting advice from a friend that knows all and still isn't stuck up and makes me giggle. I do wonder if and when there will be a blog about nausea and cramping? I will be back and tell all my witty friends about this site. Thank you for making this so helpful and enjoyable..............nicci
Thanks, Nicci!
I'm totally going to do a nausea post! Too bad I can't write as much on cramping because the post would be "Cramping sucks balls. The end". Well, maybe I could cobble something together ; )
Thanks again for the love!
In my third trimester I craved beer! So I got hubby and friends together and went out for a beer. Which was too much half way through and I switched back to milkshakes.
I really liked that part... no-one giving me strange looks out at a bar drinking a milkshake...
Love Love Love this site! 2nd pregnancy and craving EVERYTHING, especially alcohol. My girlfriend (also prego) and I have a "date" night tonight and we have secretly schemed to each have a glass of wine (or 2). I am tasting it already... With my first child, as soon as I went into labor I popped open a bottle of red and went back to sleep. This was my doula's recommendation so the heck with it! Have a glass and laugh at a fanny pack!
I had a few drinks while pregnant with my first and I have had 2 glasses of wine so far with this one- my daughter turned out fine and she is consistently ahead of her class in school... if you are stressed or you just feel that you want a glass of something I dont think it does any harm.. as long as its in moderation of course :)
LOL!! I had jello shots at my baby shower! And yes, I had some!!
My theory is that no one wants the responsibility of determining how much is ok and how much causes problems. So a drink or two occasionally isn't likely to hurt anything, especially in the later months, when most things are already formed and the baby is just working on growing larger.
I find it awesomely funny when I've browsed the internet about non-alcoholic beer and all these women say how selfish it is to give the baby that much alcohol (since there is "less than .05% alcohol in a 12 oz bottle). Seriously? If you had 3 non alcoholic beers it would be less than a quarter of a shot glass. You'd get more alcohol in a single glass of wine. I agree, pregnant women should just go to Europe where they can be pregnant and happy all at the same time ;)
Someone got mad at me for drink Kombucha while pregnant because it can have miniscule amounts of alcohol. it was ridiculous - I drank it like one time because I was feeling ill and this random woman got all bent out of shape and started lecturing me on FAS.
That being said when I was pregnant I had DREAMS of gin and tonics. I could taste their limey goodness in my mouth. I was so desperate for one that almost the minute after I had a baby I ate one. I wish I had known that drinking red wine while in labor can progress things. next time....
I had my children in England. My first daughter was 2 weeks late, the night before I was induced, my mid-wife told me to have a warm bath and a small glass of wine.
No need to tell me twice.
Once a week or so I would have a 1/4 glass of red wine mixed with Sprite, approved by my mid-wife of course
I was pregnant at this same time last year and on New Year's Eve I had a very small glass of red wine before heading out to a bar down the street with my husband just to watch the ball drop and leave (i was very sleepy from that glass of wine haha) The bar was passing around small glasses of champagne to everyone to toast with at midnight and my husband and I decided it would be fine for me to have one. Mind you, the amount of champagne in the glass was equal to about 5 sips. I cannot tell you how many dirty looks I got just having the glass in my hand before midnight. I felt so uncomfortable that I decided not to even bother toasting/drinking it. We left right after midnight and I have already told my husband we are staying in this year and I am having a glass of wine and a champagne toast at midnight in the comfort of our living room. I'm all set with being judged by ignorant people!
Almost every friday my husband treated me (us) (both children now 11 and 8) to a yummy medium rare steak and a glass of wine. A perfect way for both of us to unwind and it became our 18 month tradition! HA! And a good red beer every now and then was tasty as well. Doc said the calories probably helped more than hindered. My children are thriving youngsters now!
Love this blog! I am an American living in London, and pregnant. NHS says you can have up to two units of alcohol a week. So, every Friday I have one unit of Champagne and over the weekend I have a half pint of beer (one unit). I do not feel guilty. If you are going to worry yourself about what you drink, then you won't enjoy the beverage and might as well stick to water. Oh, I also crave McDonald's coca-cola- it's tough to find fountain drinks over here! It is tough to avoid my American friends who give me looks or sing-songy comments when I pour that glass of Champagne, but I enjoy the bubbles either way!
Awesome site. Talk about taking something that women seem to LOVE complaining about and making it fun and funny. I loved being pregnant but I seemed to have a similar attitude to yourself; I kept in mind how fabulous and cool it was that I was growing a human while trying to see the discomforts as silly and unbelievably temporary. Anyhow, about the alcohol question. I chose to drink throughout my 2nd and 3rd trimester, not a lot but if I wanted a glass of wine I had one. For the most part I fared quite well in the judgement department. I only had one negative altercation over it. It was with a moronic medical student that happened to be hosting a dinner party I went to (to whom I would like to say "if you weren't going to let me have a glass of wine why the heck did you ask me?!"). Generally speaking I think that women should just quietly make their OWN decisions about what they are going to do while they are pregnant instead of listening to unsubstantiated dogma spouted by people that have nothing to gain or lose by it. Keep it up Pregnant Chicken!
I love your blog! I just discovered it by accident. I did, however, want to comment on the alcohol question. There is a reason why drinking "before you know" is okay. And the reason is that the umbilical cord only starts forming at 5 weeks. As I was taught this membrane connection to mom is what not only passed food and nutrients, but can also pass toxins to the baby. I'm sure it's more complicated than I'm explaining, but I it's important to know that there is a reason behind that statement.
Love the blog... I totally thought I would be the type of person who has one glass of red wine during pregnancy every once and a while. But I guess my husband had other ideas he was horrified that I thought this was OK to have a little wine while pregnant. So now I just settle to have a sip of his read wine every couple of weeks. However, my favorite is Pumpkin Beer and since I am due in Feb and Pumpkin Beer is a fall thing, I have a pack of lovely beer waiting for me in the fridge... everyone knows under penalty of death not to drink them. I can't wait to come home with my healthy little baby girl and toast her new life with some yummy dark beer!! (also doesn't help your milk come in?)
Ironic that I found this site today. Thirty-nine years ago TODAY, I gave birth to my first daughter. In the pre-natal information that my OB gave me was the statement that drinking alcohol and/or smoking cigarettes on occasion would not be harmful to the baby. Never a smoker, and wasn't much of a drinker back then. Now I am a serious student of wine...good thing my pregnancy days are behind me.
Before my wife and I found our we were expecting, we went to a convention in Texas. While there, we enjoyed some good Tex-Mex and margharitas. When we did find out, she was immediately worried because she calculated the conception date to two weeks before we'd gone. I was less worried about that than the fact that I grew up near uranium mine waste (true story). But our daughter was born with no problems, and none have arisen in 10 years.
I had a pint of Guinness in a cosy pub just outside Dublin on new years day, it was a lovely treat and a surprising cure for constipation! I'm 4 months pregnant with twins and was advised that it was good for me by my midwife. Much more laid back here about the odd drink...but I'm enjoying the detox!
I craved beer like crazy during my pregnancy! And yes I did indulge from time to time. And yes I did encounter judgement. Around 37 wks I ordered a beer while out for dinner with some friends and the waiter said "are you sure?". To which I said, "yes". He never brought me my drink. Rude.
On a related note, a child in my family (many MANY years ago) was sent home by the doctors to die. His mother was able to save his life by feeding him the only thing he would eat...BEER!!!!! Cheers :)
I drank red wine after the third month, my OB said it was fine as long as I don't get smashed and drink the bottle. So every couple weeks i had a glass. I was craving it! now i have a beautiful healthy 6 month old :)
Indeed Europeans are much more relaxed about the alcohol and pregnancy. Can you even imagine an Italian mama NOT having a glass of wine with her famous lasagne?! They might dilute it with some water but most of the time don't bother.
Funnily enough I just lost all craving for alcohol and have a very random and rare drink here and there (glass of champagne on New Year's Eve, glass of wine at a dinner party etc). Overall I really do not think it is anyone else's business what the mother consumes. If she's ignorant about the effects of alcohol on an unborn child then it is a different matter, but that is not very likely to happen with nowadays' information overload. I have had friends enjoy the occasional rhum and coke, quite a few have professed their love for beer during pregnancies and everyone agrees that the occasional glass of wine (red or white, depends on which urban legend they prefer) is good for you. So, cheers, ladies! ;)
Just came across your website and YES, I will work my way through archives! You long-lost sister, you!!! I drank a little with my firstborn, felt pretty free after 4 months along, then on my second I felt even freer after the first trimester!! Never asked my doctor, and did NOT feel guilty for my weekend glasses of wine or beer. Especially DARK beer, which I felt would put a little hair on her chest and give her a strong constitution. And damn, I was RIGHT!! She is now a year old and is a little pistol who KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS and is smart as a whip. PS- she loves to dip her fingers in my wine or beer. She screams in protest when I take it away. Wonder if this is related to her time in the womb??
xoxo, Piper (www.heraceinthehole.com)
I had a few drinks with my first pregnancy, around my second and third trimesters, and felt no guilt whatsoever. It was the most amazing drink I ever tasted. I wouldn't have been able to drink in my first trimester anyway- the smell would have made me hurl. My husband actually insisted I have the drinks because I was so stressed about being pregnant (i had lost a baby before that pregnancy so it felt like I had been pregs FOREVER) and he felt it would calm me down. Because really, what would cause more harm: stress or alcohol? STRESS. Yep. So, come on ladies- don't let the judgement get to you. If you want that glass of wine or beer, then do it. You are carrying a basketball in your uterus- I think you have earned that right. Enjoy!