Pregnant Women Who Drink 'A Little' Wine Are Asking to Be Judged

by Mary Fischer June 19, 2012 at 10:39 AM

woman drinking wine A new campaign in Australia is aiming to discourage women from taking even a few sips of alcohol during their pregnancy. The initiative cost $350,000 and has support of the state government.

They are recommending that women who are either pregnant or trying to get pregnant refrain from drinking alcohol altogether -- because there is not concrete proof of whether or not small amounts of alcohol have an effect on the unborn baby. They have concluded it's just not worth the risk -- and I have to agree with them on this one.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I can remember going out to dinner with my husband and seeing a heavily pregnant woman at the table next to us sipping a glass of red wine with her meal. And while I'd heard from quite a few people that it was perfectly safe to have a glass here and there while expecting -- something about watching her drink that wine with a baby bump really turned me off. (And I wasn't the only person in the restaurant who was staring at her & judging her up and down.)

From that point forward, I knew there was no way I would dare go near alcohol until after my son arrived. But that doesn't mean I wasn't tempted to break down and have one tiny little drink -- especially on New Year's Eve. We celebrated at my parents' house that year, and I remember wanting to have a taste or two of champagne in the worst way. I almost gave in and took a sip -- but then I thought about the potential negative effect it could have on my baby, and I refrained.

Plenty of pregnant women have enjoyed a glass of wine or two and wound up delivering perfectly healthy babies, but savoring a little vino just doesn't seem worth the risk of having something interfere with your unborn baby's health or development. There's plenty of time for happy hour after the baby arrives -- and that's when moms really need a drink to unwind anyway.

Have you had any alcohol during your pregnancy?

Image via Hans Voorn/Flickr

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Filed Under: pregnancy health

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mary Fischer

is the writer behind The Mommyologist, and the mom of a future famous comedian. Her current loves include cosmopolitans, reality TV, and shoes that don't pinch her feet.

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Comments 46

sthflachk

June 19, 2012 at 3:19 PM

hahahaha, i loved being stared at with my glass of wine while pregnant...made me feel in control during a time i obviously was NOT!!

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Nonmember comment from Liz

June 19, 2012 at 3:25 PM

Thank you Bunny! It is a US problem to make blanket statements because Dr.'s don't feel the general public is smart enough to understand what constitutes light drinking. Tell some less than intelligent woman it's okay to drink small amounts, then she drinks moderately to heavily and the baby ends up with nasty side effects, and guess who mommy wants to sue? Women have been drinking small amounts during pregnancies for centuries and those babies have turned out just fine. There actually have been studies done on light drinking during pregnancy and they have found zero negative effects, some even finding positive ones! I've actually read a lot of research on the topic and I find that the women who judge others are usually the ones who have simply been brainwashed to believe any alcohol during pregnancy is evil. Ask them to provide any relevant information about light drinking during pregnancy and they can't come up with squat. "It's not worth the risk" is a laughable statement when actual science has repeatedly shown there is no risk to light drinking. American's just have a bad mentality about alcohol, period. If we weren't such a binge or abstain type of society a majority of our population wouldn't be overweight or obese either.

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LizB86

June 19, 2012 at 4:11 PM

What good does judging do? I didn't drink alcohol during my last pregnancy, but one time I was at a party and there was some delicious Ginger beer in bottles that looked like regular beer. The looks I got, and the explanations demanded, so annoying! Thanks folks, but I know what I'm doing, really I do. I highly doubt that small amounts of alcohol are harmful; the recommendation to abstain is likely motivated by fear of litigation, as several here have said.

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tyrelsmom

June 19, 2012 at 5:49 PM

It can lower blood pressure. High blood pressure is proven to be dangerous in pregnancy. Light drinking is not. I had a small glass a few times late in pregnancy to help me sleep when I was suffering from prodromal labor.

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fireeyes81

June 19, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Yup, she sounds like a horrible person... responsibly having a few sips of red wine at a nice dinner with a husband. What a bitch, she should go to jail for at least 20, maybe 30...

Come on, really?! This article is stupid.

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Jespren

June 19, 2012 at 6:43 PM

The Cochrane institute, something of the 'gold standard' in research review did a meta-analysis of U.S. labor practices and rated them: Beneficial, likely beneficial, neutral, likely harmful, harmful. Total abstinence from alcohol fell in the "likely harmful" category. Study after study after study around the world has found no detriment to the babe with mild alcohol (especially wine) intake and the health benefits to mom are well known and long documented. Drinking is never a necessity and some women just won't want to drink. But having a glass of wine while pregnant is as about as harmful as taking a bath, meaning just an old wives tale. Go ahead, judge the preggy belly whose sipping at her red wine. It just shows your ignorance and affects her not one bit. If someone chastized me for my rare glass of red during pregnancy i'd give them exactly the level of respect deserved, an chuckled eye roll, a one line response that it's harmless, and go back to sipping. Other people being ignorant isn't worth being offended over.

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NewMomma.S

June 19, 2012 at 9:59 PM

LOVE all the comments on here. I expected to find a bunch of prohibition era comments on here. I'm sitting on my couch with my big, healthy, bright eyed, normal daughter. While pregnant if I didn't have a glass of wine here or there I'd have killed my husband once or twice haha There are definitive studies out there that state alcohol in small amounts don't harm babies in utero and I'm sure I'll have an occasional glass with the next baby, too, who will also be big, healthy, bright eyed...

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Facebook comment from Sarah Miller

June 20, 2012 at 11:58 AM

I am not a drinker. Wine or anything else. As long as t's not much to hurt your baby, I don't see the harm. I just choose not to at all, cause I grew up in a acholic family, and choose to never go down that road. All I would say is just be careful!

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lilly_girly2000

June 21, 2012 at 11:39 AM

they dont really know much about the effects of a lot of things people do while pregnant... painting nails, dying hair... or how many women still paint rooms in their house while pregnant even though that one is proven to be a bad idea... some doctors actually tell their pregnant patients to have a glass of red wine if their blood pressure is high... now if you see a lady getting drunk while pregnant thats different aside from that mind your own business because guaranteed you have taken some risks too!

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