Did you drink alcohol at all during your pregnancies?

***EJ*** · February 21st, 2012, 09:22 AM

I can't really remember exacts but with all three pregnancies i possibly had a couple. I'm pretty sure it was only ever on 'special occasions' and still at that it wasn't something that i really enjoyed.

I never felt a 'craving' for a drink whilst pregnant.

**Arimeh** · February 21st, 2012, 09:24 AM

Yes

With DS I got absolutely smashed at a work function, 3 days later I found out I was pregnant. Did not touch it all the way through pregnancy.

With DD1 - I didn't have any except for when I was a week overdue and my OB suggested I have a glass of red wine to help relax because she thought I was too stressed out to go into labour.

With DD2 - I had a red wine every now and then, maybe once every 3 months.

With DD3 - Probably a glass of wine every 2 months.

Not excessive by any means.

**Dansta** · February 21st, 2012, 09:36 AM

Yep.
dj: Mouthfull of champers when we told the family.
Drank at our wedding. And.christmas.too.plus a glass of red once a week.

Vic: yep. Beer once a week or a champers for special occanions.

**Rowellen** · February 21st, 2012, 09:13 AM

Yes. I had one a week. Occasionally two if it was a special occasion over several hours (like Christmas - one with lunch & one with dinner).

I have a drink every now & then now even though I'm BF but I wait until after dinner so DD is either alseep or nearly there & only have one or two.

**Purple Penguin** · February 21st, 2012, 09:49 AM

I had 1 glass of wine at the start of my pregnancy with DD1 but didn't have any with DD2.

**blessedatlast** · February 21st, 2012, 10:40 AM

I craved red wine so had a glass for my 30th and didn't even finish it. I found once I tasted it I didn't feel like it.

**Gigi** · February 21st, 2012, 04:08 PM

Because it took me years and years to conceive, and at my age, i knew i would be having my one and only, i could not bring myself to take the risk, no matter how small. So i would say "no". But then i remember, one time i was invited over to a friend's house for a formal dinner, her relatives were there from overseas, i was talking with them, everything was going so smooth, she had gone to so much effort, and we were enjoying the night, and THEN i suddenly realised I HAD JUST DRUNK HALF A GLASS OF WHITE WINE! I was in the early stages, and for that brief amount of time, FORGOT i was pregnant, and was acting like i would normally. i was mortified and stopped immediately the second it dawned on me. So "no", with one slip up.

**LimeSlice** · February 21st, 2012, 04:30 PM

Yes, I drank with both of my pregnancies. Not to excess though, usually only 1 drink with dinner or something when I felt like it every few weeks.

**Maruschke** · February 21st, 2012, 09:08 PM

Some interesting literature is starting to emerge. It is no longer true that we have no studies discussing the effect of minimal drinking on the fetus and on children born to women who drank during pregnancy.

Here is just one such study with some peer reviewed references.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

**Traveller** · February 21st, 2012, 09:12 PM

Thanks for that, interesting literature

I had read some of it before but that's a good summary.

**Rouge** · February 21st, 2012, 09:24 PM

This was very interesting:

An analysis of seven major medical research studies involving over 130,000 pregnancies suggests that consuming two to 14 drinks per week does not increase the risk of giving birth to a child with either malformations or fetal alcohol syndrome. Negative effects appear to be related to relatively higher levels of consumption per occasion, and hence, to higher blood alcohol content levels. Thus, it appears to be very important never to consume more than one drink in any one day while pregnant.

It was told to my SIL when she heavily drank in the early stages of her pregnancy (she was unaware she was pregnant). The Drug and Alcohol abuse centre almost laughed at her (not in a horrible way) when she said she had concerns. So I found that quite interesting. I think our perception may have gone from careless to over-cautious. BUT I also understand why being over-cautious is better for some people, so please don't think I am knocking anyone at all. It's just good to have some accurate information available. And please don't think that I'm saying that those that did have a drink or two weren't cautious enough.

Hope I've made sense and not offended anyone :/

**<3 Mumofthreetobe <3** · February 22nd, 2012, 02:54 PM

I'll have 1/2 a glass of red wine on a special occasion - like at Xmas & our wedding anniversary (and it takes me all night to drink it, lol). But no more than that - well except the other day when it was really hot and DH cracked a beer and I really felt like some... weird as I don't like beer! I had about 4 mouthfuls and was done.

**Ladylove** · February 22nd, 2012, 03:37 PM

Yes I did! I occasionally had a glass of champagne if out at a dinner party; I just drank it super slowly and had lots of water with it. And I always chose a fancy one - after all it was my one cherished glass! I also occasionally had half a glass of beer with hubby at home.

***LittleMissSummer*** · February 22nd, 2012, 03:41 PM

Thanks again everyone.

Its so good to see so many mixed answers and we all have our reasons for drinking or not. I would never judge unless it was a bottle a day kind of thing!