“Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than a pregnant woman sitting at the bar,” said Brianna Walker, a bartender in Los Angeles. “The other customers can’t take their eyes off her.”
Being an avid wine drinker, I read a fabulous article in the NYT about drinking during pregnancy. As Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a danger for mothers who get drunk constantly, most doctors are not even allowed under their insurance to imply that it might be alright to indulge in one glass of wine.
However, many OBGYNs are letting their patients know that as long as they don’t indulge in more than half a glass, they will not be causing their child irreparable harm by enjoying one of the oldest beverages on the planet. I hope this puts the mind of those who didn’t know they were pregnant when they went to Vegas with girlfriends and did shots and sat in the hot tub for an hour.
Please read the article and peruse the comments I have pasted in from the Berkeley Parents Network.
My husband and I celebrated some very good news with a bottle of Champagne, of which I consumed the vast majority, the very night before I figured out I was 6 weeks pregnant. Surprise! We weren’t trying to conceive. And that wasn’t the only alcohol I’d comsumed over the four weeks since conception. I completely freaked out. I went to my first OBGYN appointment in tears. My doctor very calmly smiled and remarked that a bottle of Champagne is how many babies come to be. Of course, she was talking about the moment of conception, but she knew the specifics of my situation and was utterly unworried. That baby is an awesome four year old boy now, who, despite being a handful, is smart as a whip and normal in every way. Please don’t freak out too much about something you can’t undo.
I am an American who spent her first pregnancy in Paris. My OB was an American, though she had been there for quite a while. In my experience, the ”no-amount-is-safe orthodoxy” you described is particularly American. At restaurants, waiters would be routinely surprised, even shocked, when I would pass on having a glass of wine, even when I was visibly (very visibly!) pregnant. In fact, a few times my OB even directed me to have a glass! During that pregnancy I drank wine fairly often (a couple of glasses a week? My memory is rusty), but I did not drink hard alcohol nor did I drink during the first trimester (but that part is just personal superstition, not based on medical evidence). I’m now pregnant again (in the Bay Area this time) and, although my opinion on the! subject hasn’t changed, I’ve found that I drink less — though it may simply be because we go out to dinner less frequently!
As an American mom who enjoys a glass of wine with dinner — or two … or even three ;^) — as much as any of those bon vivant French femmes out there, here’s my unofficial & personal opinion for which the Berkeley Parents Network cannot be held legally responsible or liable: Hold off until after the first trimester, then go ahead & uncork that lovely merlot & sip in moderation. Since you’ll only be having one small glass with dinner, do consider treating yourself & upgrading to a finer-than-usual vintage. I did do a bit of research on the wine & pregnancy issue. It’s hard to find information on this since doctors, nurses, midwives, & publishers of pregnancy information *have* to stick to the ”no amount is safe during pregnancy” orthodoxy for legal as well as professional reasons. Since nobody knows the exact point at which alcohol consumption crosses the line from harmless to posing a hazard to the baby’s development, it’s better to err on the side of caution & try to avoid negative outcomes & the accompanying potential for lawsuits. However, it really *is* better to avoid alcohol & other potentially harmful environmental factors (paint fumes, dangerous falls, serious illnesses, etc.) during the first trimester, because that’s when the baby’s central nervous system & other vital organs begin developing.
I’m sure you will get lots of comments on this one! Wine has been an important mutual interest for my husband and I for more than 20 years ! (wine groups, vacations to wine regions, collecting, etc.). During my first pregnancy, I had maybe 3-4 SIPS of wine the entire pregnancy. My second pregnancy I had a heart to heart with my OB (tops in the field) and asked whether it would be truly harmful if I occasionally had a 1/2 glass of wine with dinner. My OB said that her insurance wouldn’t allow her to say it was okay, but in fact especially after the first trimester, a little wine with dinner wasn’t going to do any harm. A pediatric MD friend of mine agreed. My European friends say that their doctors allow up to TWO GLASSES per day!! Personally, I was very happy to be able to have a half glass now and then. It certainly added to my quality of life during my pregnancy and while I undertand the dangers of fetal alchohol syndrome – its beyond belief that an occassional glass of wine with food after the first trimester could do harm.
Please do further research, but I wanted to get you thinking. I like the advice of trying a higher vintage. If you can only have 6 oz, better make them quality!
