Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Except that there are clear studies. As discussed earlier in this thread. Eating too much sugar is also known to have negative effects on the fetus, but we don't shame pregnant women for eating a cupcake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I think people exaggerate on the alcohol thing, but it's hard to tell if you have an issue. Depending on how big a "serving" is, 1.5 servings a few times a week could be a lot in the 1st tri especially ... and people generally under-estimte how much they drink. If you could say honestly you had 1 white wine spritzer with 2 oz of wine about once a week ... no biggie. But if your "serving" is a giant 6oz glass of wine and you drink 3-4 nights/week ... that is a problem.

I don't like that your DH pressures you either.

I will tell you the truth, which is that I drank lightly (like 2oz of wine 2x/week) and would not do it again if I had another baby. It's a very short period of time, and my general parenting values (now that I have a kid) are to be very discerning and risk averse about my child's health.

What does this mean (bolded)?

I mean, I think they exaggerate on how bad truly light drinking is, given that there's no strong evidence for it being bad. The question is whether OP is actually engaged in "light drinking." https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2046-4053-3-1

I completely disagree with you, but I know a number of fetal alcohol babies. Alcohol is bad for your fetus. Period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

What source is the quoted material from?

Everything I’ve read about FAE/FASD suggests diagnosis is based on self report (presumed voluntary) of consuming alcohol during pregnancy after a child is identified as having any one of a number of attention/behavioral/social/developmental/learning challenges, some of which are very common (depression, baby sleeping poorly, poor math skills - yes I realize there is a spectrum in severity for all of these things, though according to CDC even mild symptoms are FASD). At best that shows a correlation, but if only inquiring about drinking during pregnancy once a problem is identified, there’s no way of knowing how many women drank during pregnancy whose children did/do not have problems. I have a hard time buying into this “science.”

FWIW, I’m pregnant and have had no alcohol since I conceived, having stopped drinking at ovulation. I likely also have FASD, because I have mild symptoms of some things on the list of signs and symptoms - I wear glasses and suck at math - and my mom drank lightly and then occasionally when she was pregnant with me, as was typical at the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Except that there are clear studies. As discussed earlier in this thread. Eating too much sugar is also known to have negative effects on the fetus, but we don't shame pregnant women for eating a cupcake.

If you honestly believed alcohol is a good thing, you wouldn't be ashamed.

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Except that there are clear studies. As discussed earlier in this thread. Eating too much sugar is also known to have negative effects on the fetus, but we don't shame pregnant women for eating a cupcake.

If you honestly believed alcohol is a good thing, you wouldn't be ashamed.

I'm not ashamed and I don't believe alcohol is a good thing. I don't think sugar is a good thing either, but I still have sweets now and then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Except that there are clear studies. As discussed earlier in this thread. Eating too much sugar is also known to have negative effects on the fetus, but we don't shame pregnant women for eating a cupcake.

If you honestly believed alcohol is a good thing, you wouldn't be ashamed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Except that there are clear studies. As discussed earlier in this thread. Eating too much sugar is also known to have negative effects on the fetus, but we don't shame pregnant women for eating a cupcake.

Anonymous wrote:They'll draw your blood post delivery, and if they find alcohol in you or the baby the hospital social worker will pay you a visit and determine if it warrants investigation. Fact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Thank you for this. Something tells me that new parents who won't give up alcohol during pregnancy, don't much understand that being good parents is full of personal sacrifices. Giving up alcohol temporarily is a relatively small sacrifice.

Anonymous wrote:"Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can develop fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These disorders include a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems. The most severe type of FASD is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy."

In other words, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to harm your child, but heavy drinking will do the most damage. The fetus is so much smaller than you are and alcohol passes readily through the placenta (less so through breast milk). Your "moderate" drinking wouldn't be moderate for a child, much less a fetus.

There are no "clear" studies b/c it would require having pregnant people drink alcohol and no ethics committee would ever approve that type of study. However, the evidence is clear. Alcohol causes damage. Will a 1/2 glass of wine be an issue if you do it once or twice? Probably not, but OP was discussing regular, moderate drinking. Unless you're an alcoholic, it shouldn't be hard to stop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you met my friend's (adopted) son with FAS and saw the effects it has on her family you'd grow up and stop drinking. Selfish cow.

Honestly, +1. FAS is heartbreaking (and, very often, family-breaking)

FAS is awful, but it's not caused by a couple of carefully measured servings per week.

Keep telling yourself that. There is NO amount determined to be SAFE.

+1

I'm raising two boys who suffer from FASD. Thing is it's entirely 100% preventable and if your kid ends up with it, it's a life sentence. Also it can be years before you know if your pregnancy drinking caused problems for your child. At birth of your baby looks perfect, that shouldn't bring you peace of mind. You might have a decade before its discovered.

My boys have really have had a tough time and there is no end in sight. They are now at the point where they totally understand why and processing the feelings that come with knowing that the person who is supposed to take care of you intentionally and knowingly engaged in behavior that resulted in what will be lifelong serious difficulties is really difficult.

Can I ask how much you drank during pregnancy? Just curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you met my friend's (adopted) son with FAS and saw the effects it has on her family you'd grow up and stop drinking. Selfish cow.

Honestly, +1. FAS is heartbreaking (and, very often, family-breaking)

FAS is awful, but it's not caused by a couple of carefully measured servings per week.

Keep telling yourself that. There is NO amount determined to be SAFE.

+1

I'm raising two boys who suffer from FASD. Thing is it's entirely 100% preventable and if your kid ends up with it, it's a life sentence. Also it can be years before you know if your pregnancy drinking caused problems for your child. At birth of your baby looks perfect, that shouldn't bring you peace of mind. You might have a decade before its discovered.

My boys have really have had a tough time and there is no end in sight. They are now at the point where they totally understand why and processing the feelings that come with knowing that the person who is supposed to take care of you intentionally and knowingly engaged in behavior that resulted in what will be lifelong serious difficulties is really difficult.

Can I ask how much you drank during pregnancy? Just curious.