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I have a 28-year-old niece with FAS (she was adopted). She has ADHD with poor judgment and reasoning skills. She doesn't drive and, while she has a job, will never be able to live without some supervision. So I know firsthand that FAS can be devastating.
At the same time, I know women who drank before they knew they were pregnant, and their children are normal. I also have a couple of friends, and a sister-in-law in Germany, who were advised to have an occasional glass of wine or beer during the last couple of months of pregnancy, to "help them relax." Their children are normal too.
And, on the flip side, I once heard a woman claim that she had exactly one drink during her entire pregnancy, but it was at precisely the wrong day or wrong hour or wrong phase of the moon, or something, and her child was born with FAS.
So, while I certainly agree that women should not drink while pregnant, and I did not (except for a teaspoon of communion wine every Sunday--does that count? then I'm guilty), I find it odd that researchers seem to have absolutely no consensus on how or at what stage or in what amounts alcohol affects the unborn. That the best advice they can give is "no alcohol, ever," which, while it stays on the safe side, and that's surely for the best, seems so simplistic it's almost patronizing.
To expand on this, FAS is one totally preventable birth defect. You can't prevent every auto accident, every illness you might get during pregnancy (though you should get the recommended immunizations during pregnancy for that reason), etc, etc. But you can prevent FAS by not drinking.
Thank you. There are so many things that are out of our control when it comes to pregnancy; I just don't understand purposely choosing to increase the odds of birth defects. Giving up alcohol temporarily is such a small sacrifice compared to all of the other sacrifices that come with pregnancy and parenthood.
Last edited by Ginge McFantaPants; 07-24-2017 at 09:04 AM..
I have a 28-year-old niece with FAS (she was adopted). She has ADHD with poor judgment and reasoning skills. She doesn't drive and, while she has a job, will never be able to live without some supervision. So I know firsthand that FAS can be devastating.
At the same time, I know women who drank before they knew they were pregnant, and their children are normal. I also have a couple of friends, and a sister-in-law in Germany, who were advised to have an occasional glass of wine or beer during the last couple of months of pregnancy, to "help them relax." Their children are normal too.
And, on the flip side, I once heard a woman claim that she had exactly one drink during her entire pregnancy, but it was at precisely the wrong day or wrong hour or wrong phase of the moon, or something, and her child was born with FAS.
So, while I certainly agree that women should not drink while pregnant, and I did not (except for a teaspoon of communion wine every Sunday--does that count? then I'm guilty), I find it odd that researchers seem to have absolutely no consensus on how or at what stage or in what amounts alcohol affects the unborn.
I don't think I would believe someone who claimed one alcoholic drink caused FAS. That sounds more like someone who drank throughout the pregnancy but didn't want to take responsibility for causing FAS.
I don't think I would believe someone who claimed one alcoholic drink caused FAS. That sounds more like someone who drank throughout the pregnancy but didn't want to take responsibility for causing FAS.
Craigcreek it seems you have been involved with this syndrome somewhere along the road in your life.
I am an advocate for special needs adoption, and know of many children with FAS/FAE who are currently living in impoverished orphanages in eastern Europe and elsewhere. I also know families who've adopted kids with diagnosed FAE/FAS. With familial awareness of the typical issues kids with this disorder face, things can be done to help children cope, if not fully overcome, their problems.
I also worked with kids for almost 30 years, and although I was not familiar with FAS/FAE then, in hindsight, I recall children who fit the description. Of course I have no way of knowing if they truly had FAS/FAE - but they ticked all the boxes.
For those citing instances of apparently completely normal children born to mothers who imbibed during pregnancy, I would only ask if you've considered that these children's IQ's may have been lowered by ten or twenty points? Maybe they have perfectly normal IQs of around 100 - but maybe they might have had IQs of 110 or 120, without prenatal exposure to alcohol. Or perhaps their attention spans, again within normal ranges, might have been longer. Maybe their eyes would not have been wide-spaced (one of the few benign signs that does not cause difficulties).
There is no way of knowing.
Again, signs and traits can be very, very subtle or they can be severe and unmistakable.
Tests done with scans of fetuses taken while the mother ingests alcohol reveal the baby is in distress once the booze hits it. The child will flinch, draw up its arms and legs, shudder, and be in obvious discomfort.
In all cases, drinking during pregnancy is a completely avoidable risk to the child. Why would anyone who considers themselves intelligent and unselfish choose to drink during pregnancy, given the risks?
I know a lot of women who drank an occasional beer or wine while pregnant.
For me, the second I found out I was pregnant with each of mine, I abstained entirely.
I realize that the risk of damaging baby from an occasional alcoholic beverage is minor, but I didn't think it was a risk worth taking for myself personally.
Plus, you don't need alcohol. Abstaining, for a non-alcoholic, should not be hard at all. Even in social settings, people will understand if you order water or soda if you're pregnant.
Now see, and I'm talking in general and not just to you glamatomic...if some people wanted to they could get MORE extreme and say that once you started TRYING to get pregnant you should start abstaining to be sure there was no alcohol in your system very early on before you knew you were actually pregnant.
Others would go even another step and say that no woman of fertile age should drink alcohol JUST IN CASE she should happen to unintentionally get pregnant.
Obviously opinions differ on where to draw the line...and everyone thinks they are right.
Now see, and I'm talking in general and not just to you glamatomic...if some people wanted to they could get MORE extreme and say that once you started TRYING to get pregnant you should start abstaining to be sure there was no alcohol in your system very early on before you knew you were actually pregnant.
Others would go even another step and say that no woman of fertile age should drink alcohol JUST IN CASE she should happen to unintentionally get pregnant.
Obviously opinions differ on where to draw the line...and everyone thinks they are right.
Yep and there is evidence that consuming alcohol in the months preceding a pregnancy can damage one's eggs so you are right that it could go as far to say that anyone who is fertile should abstain entirely. And if we're going to be so stringent about a little bit of alcohol late in one's pregnancy then we should be equally stringent about the multitude of chemicals and toxins in our environment that are linked to birth defects, behavioral problems in kids etc.
I doubt anyone would think twice about a pregnant woman cleaning her house with cleaners she bought at her local grocery store or drinking water from a plastic water bottle or hiring a landscaper to spray her weeds with Roundup or eating a bowl of Kraft macaroni and Cheese or eating cake at her baby shower that contains food dyes, yet all of these activities come with preventable risk.
For those citing instances of apparently completely normal children born to mothers who imbibed during pregnancy, I would only ask if you've considered that these children's IQ's may have been lowered by ten or twenty points? Maybe they have perfectly normal IQs of around 100 - but maybe they might have had IQs of 110 or 120, without prenatal exposure to alcohol.
There is no way of knowing.
This reminds me so much of the studies that "show" that breastfed children are more intelligent. My mother was ahead of her time in breastfeeding all seven of her children, born between the late 1940s and 1960s. All except one--the middle child, my sister, who apparently was a "thin and nervous" baby who seemed to be failing to thrive. After a brief struggle, Mom switched to formula feeding her. That sister is now 56 and has an MA in piano performance. Her IQ, according to our school district's gifted program, was tested at 132. But if she had been breast-fed, maybe her IQ would have been 140 or even 150! There is no way to know!
Actually, saying "Things are good, but maybe if you had done this or avoided that, they might have been even better" is really profitless speculation, good for nothing but making people feel guilty for not measuring up, or smug for being holier-than-thou. The fact is, by definition the average person clocks in with an IQ around 100. That fact stands whether their mother had a drink or two during pregnancy or not, whether they breastfed or not, whether they ate all organic and free-range or not. Not one of us was born to a perfect parent and raised in the perfect manner which guarantees no flaws and the achievement of one's full potential.
Clearly there are extreme situations like severe malnutrition, chronic alcoholism, and drug abuse, which are well-known and proven to be detrimental to the developing human. But telling mothers that those two glasses of wine they drank shaved 10 or 20 points off their child's IQ? Please. There is absolutely no evidence of that.
Would I be safe to assume that the posters taking a hard line on alcohol in this thread also took a hard line on child safety seats in the recent thread on that subject?
Everything comes with a risk! Non-pregnant women, parents, and over 21 citizens take the risk with any alcohol use. Could two drinks turn into 20 within a couple of years, depends on genes and other factors. However we take risks whether we decide to pick up that bottle of soda, or eat this and that. It has to be the choice of the person. I think it's in moderation it's fine. If it's having 12 drinks every Friday and Saturday night probably not the best idea. I think what is worse is when parents start to party and get drunk frequently when their kids become teenagers (in front of them/with them). If they did this behind the scenes it's not as bad. This happened in a lot of my family and it was a factor for us as young adults to have trouble controlling alcohol. In about half of my cousins and about half of my siblings (almost me) had some type of abuse with alcohol until we were in our early 30's.
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