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I've known two women who had children with FAS. One adopted a newborn who was later diagnosed and today at 25 she is in a group home. The other was a woman who drank, she says moderately, while pregnant but this was 55 years ago before FAS even existed.
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Not worth the risk in any amount. I used to be an acquaintance to a woman who drank minimally during her pregnancy and her kid seemed to turn out fine with no medical issues. But to me, it's not worth tbe gamble.
Having just spent the better part of a year pregnant, I've gotten the most recent schools of thought on any amount of alcohol during a pregnancy. You will STILL find doctors that say, "A glass of wine is fine near the end of a pregnancy," or similar. You will also find many who say, "Absolutely no alcohol, in any amount, at any time."
While FAS has traditionally been more associated with heavy use/abuse, the prevailing trend right now is to assume that alcohol in any amounts has the potential to disrupt fetal development. It must be noted, however, that LOTS and LOTS of things have the potential to disrupt fetal development. That said, you can choose not to consume alcohol when pregnant. Some of the other things that disrupt fetal development, you don't have the same degree of choice over.
Also bear in mind that there can be up to a month, maybe more, when women don't necessarily know they are pregnant. I had my wedding anniversary and a weekend getaway the weekend before I found out I was pregnant, and was stressed over a champagne toast, a glass of wine with dinner, and some tastings at a winery on the first leg of the weekend...not much, but still. My OBGYN told me that at my stage of pregnancy, I would likely cause more harm by excessively worrying about it.
I think we know enough now to say it's not worth the risk when we know we are pregnant. Having said that, when I became pregnant (19 years ago) one of the first things I worried about, and brought up to my doctor upon finding out was, oh my gosh! I had drinks a couple of times! He told me that was such a common fear with his patients and calmed me down. Interestingly enough, many of us were born to a generation of women who drank (moderately) during pregnancy, SMOKED, but were told they couldn't take an aspirin for a headache. Best to abstain, but I think (note, I am not a doctor) that FAS is more common among heavy drinking or alcoholic mothers.
All it takes is one bender at the wrong time and your child could be severely brain damaged. I think...if we know this causes damage to babies...why play around with any amount what so ever? Not all damage is easily seen. There is also fetal alcohol effect. I know two people who likely have FAE, not full blown FAS. Both grown women, poor decision makers, emotionally still teenagers, not very bright. I'm sure there are tons of people out there with FAE who struggle much more then they need to if their mothers had not drank at all in pregnancy.
If you had some prior to knowing you were pregnant, I wouldn't beat yourself up. Babies are quite resilient and what is done is done. Its just hard for me to see giving the baby a "little bit" of poison is ok at all. It isn't...not on purpose. Why risk it?
Having just spent the better part of a year pregnant, I've gotten the most recent schools of thought on any amount of alcohol during a pregnancy. You will STILL find doctors that say, "A glass of wine is fine near the end of a pregnancy," or similar. You will also find many who say, "Absolutely no alcohol, in any amount, at any time."
While FAS has traditionally been more associated with heavy use/abuse, the prevailing trend right now is to assume that alcohol in any amounts has the potential to disrupt fetal development. It must be noted, however, that LOTS and LOTS of things have the potential to disrupt fetal development. That said, you can choose not to consume alcohol when pregnant. Some of the other things that disrupt fetal development, you don't have the same degree of choice over.
Also bear in mind that there can be up to a month, maybe more, when women don't necessarily know they are pregnant. I had my wedding anniversary and a weekend getaway the weekend before I found out I was pregnant, and was stressed over a champagne toast, a glass of wine with dinner, and some tastings at a winery on the first leg of the weekend...not much, but still. My OBGYN told me that at my stage of pregnancy, I would likely cause more harm by excessively worrying about it.
That was a nice thing for him/her to say, because there was nothing you could do about it anyway. There's also a phenomenon in early pregnancy called "all or nothing", where something either causes the termination of a pregnancy or has no effect whatsoever. Big Belly, Big Baby | Fit Pregnancy
However, as soon as you know you're pregnant (you, plural) you should quit drinking. No one knows what the cut-off level for alcohol during pregnancy is, so the safest approach is to not drink at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TXNGL
I think we know enough now to say it's not worth the risk when we know we are pregnant. Having said that, when I became pregnant (19 years ago) one of the first things I worried about, and brought up to my doctor upon finding out was, oh my gosh! I had drinks a couple of times! He told me that was such a common fear with his patients and calmed me down. Interestingly enough, many of us were born to a generation of women who drank (moderately) during pregnancy, SMOKED, but were told they couldn't take an aspirin for a headache. Best to abstain, but I think (note, I am not a doctor) that FAS is more common among heavy drinking or alcoholic mothers.
More common, yes, but it's not unheard of even in so-called "light" drinkers. This is kind of old (2010) but still has good information. http://www.alcoholnews.org/FAS.html
The American Academy of Pediatrics just recently came out with a position recommending no alcohol during pregnancy and cites a "recent study" showing that light drinking can also be problematic. https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-...Pregnancy.aspx
The health authorities in virtually all developed countries recommend no drinking as the safest approach to pregnancy. Most leave it at that. Some few go on to say if you "must" drink, to limit your drinking to one drink once or twice a week. (Of course, my link for this isn't working right now!)
Best to abstain, but I think (note, I am not a doctor) that FAS is more common among heavy drinking or alcoholic mothers.
More common only in the fact that the more times you drink, the more likely you are to hit a "window" where alcohol can impact the fetus.
I've done a bit of training at a leading FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) clinic and research center. As they say, FASD is the only preventable disability category. We know with 100% certainty what causes it (drinking during pregnancy) and it is preventable. They noted that the amount a mother drinks during pregnancy actually doesn't directly correlate with the severity of symptoms in the affected child.
If you choose to drink once or twice during pregnancy, chances are good there will be no ill effects. However, there is also a chance your child could be severely impacted.
Good info in Katarina's post, just thought I'd tag on a few thoughts.
Katarina's post is consistent with everything I read and researched during my pregnancy, and with my doctors' stance. I feel like this is pretty widely known, but that may just be an erroneous assumption on my part.
More common only in the fact that the more times you drink, the more likely you are to hit a "window" where alcohol can impact the fetus.
I've done a bit of training at a leading FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) clinic and research center. As they say, FASD is the only preventable disability category. We know with 100% certainty what causes it (drinking during pregnancy) and it is preventable. They noted that the amount a mother drinks during pregnancy actually doesn't directly correlate with the severity of symptoms in the affected child.
If you choose to drink once or twice during pregnancy, chances are good there will be no ill effects. However, there is also a chance your child could be severely impacted.
Good info in Katarina's post, just thought I'd tag on a few thoughts.
Exactly why I stated we know enough now to just say abstain. What I worry about are women who had a few drinks before they knew they were pregnant, and panic when they find out that they are.
To be honest, as a person who typically concluded workouts with whirlpool and/or sauna time, I was actually far more concerned about the hot tub and sauna time I'd logged in the < 3 weeks between conception and learning i was pregnant. Given the risk of neural tube defects with that type of heat exposure, and the fact that those early weeks are exactly when the neural tube is beginning to form, that was a far greater wory to me than the two glasses of wine and glass of champagne I'd had my wedding anniversary weekend during the same window. That anxiety didnt go away until the anatomical screening ultrasound.
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