Reply to Even a Little Alcohol Can Harm Your Health

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The problem is that it’s individual-specific but we don’t yet understand how exactly. For me, even one glass of wine inhibits deep sleep. I’m already insulin resistant and one poor night of sleep messes with insulin further, which is only bad. But that’s a snapshot of my specific health concerns and may not be relevant to anyone else. I still drink on occasion but it’s not harmless.

I agree that encouraging women of childbearing age to abstain feels paternalistic, but the health of our potential children really matters. I didn’t know I was pregnant until 10 weeks on two occasions (anovulation the first time and minor hemorrhage mimicking period the second). I drank moderately the first time, regretted it once I knew I was pregnant and then abstained until done having kids. Many, many women have similar stories. [/quote]

You’re extrapolating your situation onto other people.  For most people, having a single drink say, once a month or even once a week actually is harmless, especially in the context of everything else they do (or don’t do).

The fact that SO many women have the experience of drinking very early in pregnancy - and then stopping for the duration - tells you that doing so is, if not 100% harmless, fairly close to that.  I mean, if we’re going to scream at women who are TTC for drinking, we should also be screaming at them for eating a crappy diet, not exercising, etc., while pregnant.  And we don’t do that because it’s paternalistic.

Again, I’m not advocating that anyone start drinking or that alcohol is harmless.  It’s not.  But asserting that light drinking is harmful for most people also isn’t accurate.  Maybe the better message for healthcare professionals to give people is that if an individual notices negative consequences, they should abstain.  That’s not the same as “light drinking is harmful, I’m just not telling you it is.”[/quote]

+1 I think there are good reasons to advise women not to drink during pregnancy. Just because we don't have proof of negative effects on the fetus from small amounts, doesn't mean there aren't any. So we should say that - we don't know if there's any level that is safe in pregnancy, so you are best off not drinking at all. But we also shouldn't be alarmist about small amounts of alcohol, and be honest that known FASD occurs from large amounts of alcohol. Saying that women who are TTC can't have a cocktail at brunch after their period comes just in case it's not actually their period but a freak hemorrhage is ridiculous and feeds into not only alarmism but also the criminalization of pregnancy.[/quote]

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