Alcohol During Pregnancy: Is It OK or Dangerous?

just dont do it!! And if you're some alcoholic or something i suggest you either abort or learn to get clean

Is it really so hard to not drink alcohol for 9 months? Please, enlighten me.
Hell even Snooki doesn't drink during her pregnancy

Going on a binge isn't okay, that's not what I'm approving. If it's one or two small glasses of red wine or something, I don't see the harm. Just be smart about it.

Even in moderation it can be dangerous. Alcohol isn't going anywhere you can wait 9+(if you're breast feeding) months to drink again. Why risk it, you are responsible for a living thing inside you. Just wait...

Dumb idea! First everyone's idea of moderate is different . Binges really! those people should NOT be having kids! I will admit I may have had a serving of wine once or twice during my pregnancy but that's it. And note I said serving which is 4oz. Not a glass!

it's horrible the babay can suffer heart defects and fetal alcholo syndrome any alchohol is out of the question >:(

There should be an undecided choice. When I had my kids I had problems with eairly laybor. My doctor said a 1/2 glass of wine would stop this from happening if I was not TRULY in laybor. But someone who drinks daily is wrong. It causes fetal alcohol syndrome and that is sad for a baby. Anyone who does this needs treatment. Seattle Washington, a woman ordered a glass of wine and the waiter brought the bottle over and showed her the effects on drinking while pregnant. She sued And won. Sad but its up to the pregnant person to make the right choice.

Wow! There is something seriously wrong with the law in Seattle. In PA, having a liquor license requires that signs be posted regarding the damaging effects of alcohol on a fetus.

That one glass of wine could be the day your child's brain is developing. Then that idiot mother would probably sue the establishment for serving her because her child has an educational disability.

We don't know how much is too much.

you still can harm the baby's development.

You gotta love mothers who go ahead and do something that's been thought and proven to be dangeous, just because a few people say it's OK. I predict they will dump their kid off with relatives every chance they get, of course that's assuming the child will even live through the pregnancy.
It's not difficult to not have a drink for JUST 9 months. Grow the hell up. If you need booze to have a good time, you're a pretty sad person.

I would advise women to eschew the use of alcohol during pregnancy. It's simply not worth the risk. A pregnant woman who drinks any amount of alcohol is at risk for having a child with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). No "safe" level of alcohol use during pregnancy has been established.

A baby with fetal alcohol syndrome may have the following symptoms:

Poor growth while the baby is in the womb and after birth

Decreased muscle tone and poor coordination

Delayed development and problems in three or more major areas: thinking, speech, movement, or social skills

Heart defects such as ventricular septal defect (VSD) or atrial septal defect (ASD)

Problems with the face, including:

Narrow, small eyes with large epicanthal folds

Small head

Small upper jaw

Smooth groove in upper lip

Smooth and thin upper lip

Other complications seen in the infant may include:

Abnormal heart structure

Behavior problems

Infant death

Mental retardation

Problems in the structure of the head, eyes, nose, or mouth

Poor growth before birth

Slow growth and poor coordination after birth

Still want that drink?

Great info! A periatrician can spot FAS immediately. WHile Mom lies about her drinking, I think the docs should be able to report the mothers for child abuse.
Everyone knows it's illegal to give a newborn alcohol or a drug, why would they think it's ok to give it to a fetus?

Shouldn't be drinking alcohol (or smoking, among other things) during pregnancy.

It isn't about you, it is about the health of your child at that point.

I think doctors say now that a small amount is perfectly harmless. The only thing is, it's so hard to determine exactly what "a little bit" is for every woman since everyone's bodies respond to things differently. So, if it were me, I would just stay away from it for the whole 9 months.

how would that ever be ok for the health of a growing fetus its extreamly dangerous

If you want a healthy baby, no booze, no drugs, no smokes , no coffee!

I totaly agree... But If a person was addicted to caffeine, wouldn't the stress from withdrawals affect the baby? Or maybe wean to weaker stuff like black tea and greentea? I'm not pregnant btw, just thinking

I don't think it would be as bad as cigs. But the Dr. would know what to do.

Approved dose is still pretty high ~2 cups of coffee (8 oz.), 4 sodas (12 oz cans), or 6 cups of tea.

Those numbers are the maximum, the truth is caffeine hinders bone growth, depletes calcuim and other minerals and affects neural development.
This short article has the links to the UK suggestions.
http://www.examiner.com/artic...

This one is very clinical but shows even further proof of a chemical imbalance in utero negatively affecting many of developing systems. Wow, I never knew this or I would not put a drop in my body when i was pregnant. I drank 2 cups a day :(

http://www.springerlink.com/c...

I know they are maximum. It is recommended that you take in a lot of calcium during pregnancy and nursing for the child, but also b/c this is the only time that you can get more calcium to your bones.

The latter article is interesting and very much in my area, but those doses are a little high for rats and mice. I'll have to look into it more b/f my next pregnancy, but I am trying to cut out soda anyway.

Smart decision, I wish I had the internet before my first kids, dial up sucked, lol

The sad part is there are always going to be people who push the max. Their 2 cups a day will be 20 ouncers.

The only problem is that people find one piece of information and run with it. That is fine if it is context, but it rarely is. Since I am a chemist and am used to reading scientific articles, what you posted is right up my alley. Even still, I don't do rat/mouse studies, but it is close enough and I read about these assays often enough that I could find the answer with some research. This is by no means a slight on you, but on information on the internet. I believe the biggest ones recently was "why you should eat organic food" and the reasons fell apart quickly if you did 5 min of research and had a background to know what to look for (this would be the hard part).

The article is old enough that is likely influenced the decision for the maximum doses of caffeine. I think the lowest dose of caffeine was actually too high to relate to our maximum dose per kg. This probably exposed caffeine as harmful during pregnancy and shaped the current thoughts. As I said, I will look into it more b/f I get pregnant again, but it only supports the maximum dose in a brief skim.

Information is wonderful, it is just time IMO to teach people how to handle it and think critically about each piece. It is all evidence, we just have to figure out what it means.

I'm not a chemist but I was a secondary science education major (double major computer science) at an engineering university, so I am familiar with reading medical journals and scientific articles and love to read them.

I didn't mean to slight you by saying the article was very clinical, I had no idea I was in a discussion with a chemist. You must admit it's not for the average joe. That was just one of the first ones to pop up in a search.

Oh I know, that was just my point. Learning to read chemical and medical journals is difficult to do. My only point is people need to learn to put information in context, people read lots of these studies but don't understand them and then go on to complain about various chemicals when they really don't understand what the number mean. Antioxidants are one very good example. Sure they are "antioxidants" but our body makes much better ones that any positive effects from our foods is not due to the antioxidant effect even though that word has been thrown around a lot lately.

My theories for food is the fresher the better, and everything in moderation. It's worked out well for my whole crew.

The problem of caffeine is bone growth and strength. When I had a bone graft, I had to cut out caffeine so that my bones would fuse.
The withdrawl for this former coffee addict was about a week of mind blowing headaches and constant cravings. Just a week to kill a 2 pot a day bad habit.
Exercise (which I could not do) would help the stress of withdraw.

No.... I drink. A LOT. Well anyway I think its selfish not to stop drinking for 9 months of ur life when it could mean the life of your kid.... You don't know how it might affect the kid....

It's dangerous anytime.

At best unwise.

Alcohol destroys brain cells.

Whatever keeps pregnant women calm, I say.

If it wasn't for booze, half these women would not be pregnant in the first place!

LOL! My ex's sister is pregnant and holy crap...she was hard to tolerate before, now it's torture -.-

the occasional sip is ok... even a glass from time to time, but if you're insisting on having a glass a day while pregnant, or binging, with what we know about the dangers of fetal alcohol syndrome, then you are an alcoholic, and need to get help

I am not encouraging drinking while pregnant...
Is there a safe or acceptable level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women?

A large study examined 400,000 women in the U.S., all of whom had consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Not a single case of fetal alcohol syndrome occurred and no adverse effects on children were found when consumption was under 8.5 drinks per week. 3

A review of research studies found that fetal alcohol syndrome only occurs among alcoholics. The evidence is clear that there is no apparent risk to a child when the pregnant woman consumes no more than one drink per day....http://www2.potsdam.ed...

Any soon-to-be-mother who is dumb enough to consume alcohol while expecting is not a suitable mother. Consuming alcohol during pregnancy has the potential to cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Down's Syndrome. Stupid Parents!!!

Drinking or any kind of substance abuse is stupid..... People that are so selfish aggravates me. Its just 9 months, people!

:-)