Pregnant and drinking

[TERRIBLETOM]

I was at a club the other night and this isn't the first time I've seen this in fact it's quite a bit, These girls are drinking mixed drinks at the club and some drinking wine. I remember this one girl must have been at least 7 months along, I'm not sure what there doctors are telling them but I'm seeing it an awful lot. I would put that in the same category as smoking while pregnant, even if you don't smoke being in the club alone I'm sure doesn't help with the second hand smoke. I know their probably feeling depressed or what have you and there friends dragged them out to cheer them up but where do you draw the line for what's healthy and what's not?

[blueindian]

maybe she was having virgin drinks.

[TERRIBLETOM]

Originally posted by blueindian
maybe she was having virgin drinks. You could very well be right with the mixed drink, but I have seen some drinking wine and just recently one having a beer. I'm just not sure how healthy that is.

[blueindian]

i'd say not healthy at all. i think i would have said something. poor kid. fetal alcohol syndrome is nothing to laugh at.

[faither]

Maybe she's just a boozehag who has no consideration for her unborn child. You hope this isn't the case. Maybe she was just...you know...large?

[welfareloser]

lots of possibilities here. could be a boozehag. could have had virgin drinks (i often treat myself to a "mixed drink" at a bar consisting of diet coke and grenadine with maraschinos... mmmmm... it might look like wine, but maybe it was just juice, which i often ask for at a bar since i know they have it on hand for mixers, and they serve it in a wineglass or a mixed drink glass... the beer could have been n/a... etc...)

also, one drink a month simply isn't going to hurt a fetus. period. it's impossible. one episode of drunkenness (not alcohol poisoning, but major tipsy) in the second or third trimester is not going to hurt a fetus, period. one drink a week has never been proven to cause harm, but is a level of drinking that many pregnant women are uncomfortable with, just in case. the evidence about one drink per day inconclusive, proven neither harmful nor safe, and is a level of drinking that most pregnant women are uncomfortable with, just in case. more than that has been proven to case harm.

so, you can't really judge what you see. everyone has a different comfort level. some women never touch alcohol. some will have a sip of champagne new years eve, or a glass. some will have a beer once, or once a month. some drink too damned much.

after an amniocentesis, an ob/gyn will ORDER you to go home, put your feet up, and have a glass of wine to reduce the risk of miscarriage after the procedure. i consider that a "freebie." i didn't have an amnio, but i had a 4 oz glass of champagne for new years.

another variable... for about the first week after you deliver, you still look about 6-7 months pregnant... some women still look that pregnant SIX WEEKS after they deliver (and whoa are they not happy about still wearing their maternity clothes.) so you can't know for sure what you're seeing (which is why you NEVER NEVER NEVER ask "when are you due?" unless you know for a fact the woman is pregnant!!!!)