Another Drinking and Pregnancy Poll

sammi1285

When I was in school, I took a class called nutrition across the lifespan and we studied fetal nutrition... our professor, who had a PhD, said that drinking while pregnant will not hurt the baby except at a few very specific times during development. I'm not sure if I would want to drink while pregnant, though, just bc I don't think I would feel like it.

ricksang

LOL my book did not have those typos. I really hate that the knot has not edit feature.

[Deleted User]

That was one of my all time favorite SNL skits. I wish I could have a tea party with her and Brian Fellows. We would have lots of fun together.

ricksang

I love tea parties, can I come? I have cookies!

tlv204

Can Turd Ferguson join the tea party too?

[Deleted User]

It depends on what kind of cookies you have. Oatmeal raisin cookies freak Brian Fellows out because he thinks the raisins are laughing at him. Otherwise, you should be good.

[Deleted User]

Can Turd Ferguson join the tea party too?Yes please! This will be the best tea party ever.

ricksang

If Turd Ferg is coming, I will bring sugar cookies with chocolate kisses in the middle.

[Deleted User]

Yay for doo doo cookies!

ricksang

Mmmm I want one now.

sarabellam

I had an occasional single glass of wine when I was pregnant, and had teh occasional glass of wine while I was nursing. Something I read is that drinking while pregnant the fetus will share the mother's blood alcohol level. If the mother drinks while breastfeeding, the breastmilk has the same alcohol content as the bloodstream. So if a woman is legally drunk, which in most states is considered .08%, that means her breastmilk is also .08% alcohol, or .016 proof. For you non-math people out there, that is 8 ten-thousandths. You get a heck of a lot more alcohol froma teaspoon of vanilla extract. Not exactly like Grandma rubbing brandy on a teething baby's gums years ago.

Nebb

I hate wine, so no. I have heard of women drinking guiness though, which I would be up for once in a while. Its apparently good for breastfeeding too though i dont know why.

ricksang

I think it is more of a taste factor for the baby when breastfeeding, same with spicy foods, coffee, I don't know what else.

Nebb

I just read that the iron in guiness is good for you/baby, and the yeast in it will help stimulate milk production when you are brast feeding, you just need to be careful not to overdo it.

SarahPLiz

My dear friend is in the 3rd trimester of her 2nd successful pregnancy, and she has one glass of wine with us every Thursday for girls night. Her first baby turned out ok, so I assume that a glass once a week is not harmful. Her doctor seems to think the same thing. Where I grew up, it was common practice to rub whisky into the bottom of a colicky baby's feet, or just dip the nipple of their bottle in it, so they could sleep. Most people seem to turn out ok.

rhodesign

I just took a class on high-risk newborn conditions, and we discussed fetal alcohol syndrome.Some people have had an occasional drink and the baby ended up fine. Others had one and the kid ended up with FAS. It's too unpredictable, so why take the chance? I think my desire for a healthy child outweighs my desire for a drink, so I wouldn't push it.

ricksang

That is what I am saying RH. Why risk it? It is only 9 months.

lpstl

I have one glass of wine about once a week, my doctor said it was perfectly fine. It acceptable in every other developed country but America, in fact the British Medical Journal did a study that indicated that children of women who drank moderately during their pregnancy were less likely to have behavioral disorders.You just have to use some common sense. Is one glass of red wine once a week going to hurt the baby? No. Is one bottle every night? Hell yeah. Sure, I could forgo and "not chance it". I could also live with a gas mask on to guard from pollutants in the air. I just think it's a little overboard.

lpstl

rho, I've done a lot of research on this and in every large case study I've read there were no cases of alcohol related complications in women who drank infrequently. Do you remember what study found that one drink lead to FAS? I can point you in the direction of half a dozen studies that contradict that.

ricksang

My text book and the RD professors who teach at my school advice against it. I guess it is a personal preference from what I am reading here. I have no idea why a text book (several of my text books) would print wrong info, but I am going by what the books and my PhD professors advise.

sucrets4

I'd just like to point out how quickly things can change:30 years ago, you were a 'bad parent' if you put your child to sleep on their back.  Also, formula feeding was pushed and breastfeeding was discouraged.The prevailing knowledge now is totally opposite and things will always change.Even with non pregnant issues:  wine is good, wine is bad, coffee is good, coffee is bad, etc.

ricksang

I honestly don't have the answers. I am just going by what the books say. I think this topic is one of those topics where science is conflicted on both sides. So you really have to make your OWN choice.

lpstl

The only basis for recommending that a woman completely abstain from alcohol during pregnancy is the claim that there hasn't been enough research disputing the risks. That, and liability (i.e. Dr says one glass is fine, stupid woman gets drunk every night, has messed up baby, and sues dr ).At work I have access to a tremendous number of evidence based clinical studies, so I combed through them and looked up studies my dr recommended. The vast majority done on the topic supported the notion that as many one drink a day poses no risk. I don't recall reading any study that claimed one drink during pregnancy could result in FAS. Unfortunately I think there's a lot of misinformation out there about the topic, surprisingly a good number of studies I read seemed to support that infrequent to moderate alcohol consumption (glass a day or less) may be beneficial for the baby. It wouldn't shock me if in 20 years from now drs recommended that pregnant women have a glass of wine with dinner to promote these benefits.If anyone is interested in the studies I'm happy to dig them up, just might take a bit.

ricksang

I don't recall reading any study that claimed one drink during pregnancy could result in FAS. That's going overboard.

ricksang

I am interested!

lpstl

Sure thing, I'll start recombing. I know I should be able to pull up the BMJ stidy tonight, might have to wait til I get to work tomorrow for the rest. The one drink leading to FAS was something rho said she had heard.

ricksang

Thanks, awesome! I like to get all sides of the story when it comes to science.

ThePinkSuperhero

I look forward to seeing the reports!

lpstl

Here's the BMJ one (I know it was published in the BMJ, but the only one I could find for free was from The International Journal of Epidemiology)[url]http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/08010/08103101[/url]There's a link to the full paper on that page too.

ricksang

I am going to be honest and say I will NOT read this tonight but it is going in my favorites for the weekend!