Horrified .. drinking and smoking

[LaLaBelle]

.

 

[MrsPOP]

Here is a little section from the NICE guidelines regarding Antenatal Care:


Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant should be advised to
avoid drinking alcohol in the first 3 months of pregnancy, because there may be
an increased risk of miscarriage.
• Women should be advised that if they choose to drink alcohol while they are
pregnant they should drink no more than 1-2 UK units once or twice a week
There is uncertainty about how much alcohol is safe to drink in pregnancy, but at
this low level there is no evidence of any harm to their unborn baby.
• Women should be advised not get to drunk or binge drink (drinking more than 7.5
UK units of alcohol on a single occasion) while they are pregnant because this
can harm their unborn baby.


The lady in the OP had whooped out a bottle of red wine. A bottle of red wine on average has about 10 units MINIMUM.

Not casting aspersions on anyone here but do people know what measurements of wine constitutes a unit? One glass? How big is that glass? 125ML? 250ML? You may think you are 'only' drinking one unit but if it isnt measured out correctly, you may be drinking 2....or even 3 units in that one glass...going over the recommended guidelines.

The lady in the OP may say to the OP "oh my Doctor recommended 2 units blah blah" who's to say she might think after 2 of her 'unit's "oh sod it, I'll have the bottle...cant harm". Obviously she may well not have done but how do we know?

Im not 'claiming' Im a Doctor. I am one and I'll tell you this for nowt, I recommend my patients to abstain from alcohol completely. If they tell me they will continue to drink I of course will tell them the above guidelines but strongly encourage them not to. Why? Not just for the foetus's sake...after all it is uncertain how much alcohol is 'too much' for the foetus...but for the mother's sake too. Alcohol has NO nutritional value. Yes Im sure people will be like 'aHA, but what about the benefits of red wine for the heart blah blah'...yes there are *some* benefits there. HOWEVER, for the main, alcohol provides NOTHING good for you that you cannot get from other sources (the antioxidants etc in red wine can be found from other healthier substances).

Alcohol contains empty calories. Some alcohol products contain astronomical amounts of sugar and for those at risk of gestational diabetes, probably not a good idea to indulge.

And let's not forget, alcohol is natural depressant. Why make those hormone mood swings worse?

And lastly, alcohol is a diuretic. We pee enough as it is and run the risk of dehydration as it is. Why make it worse?

Of course you may say 'well low levels should be fine'. I hope they are for you and your baby's sake. However it is my personal choice and my informed choice not to drink and I feel it is my duty of care to patients pregnant or not to encourage them not to drink.

The NICE guidelines are from 2007 so I will have a further look to see if I can find anything more recent once I am back from my meeting.

 

[ShanandBoc]

Thanks Lalabelle, but i still dont know why anyone would go to so much trouble to defend it its just alcohol, all drugs should be avoided in pregnancy, including caffeine for the sake of a 9 measly months.

I dont see why ist so important to need to drink tbh??

Government bodies say to abstain as there is no concrete evidence either way, so best to err on th side of caution

 

[mummy2lola]

I don't get why junk food and chocolate always gets bought into these types of threads.when it's illegal to buy a chocolate bar under the age of 18 or illegal to eat a mcdonalds in public then I'm sure there will also be people who steer clear of that completely too when before they had it alot.surely there's a reason why these things are illegal under 18? That being said as I've stated before that it's a personal choice for everyone if they smoke or drink in pregnancy I was just trying to state about chocolate and things

ladies at the end of the day it's UR choice eithwr way and that's all that matters xx

 

[ShanandBoc]

double post

 

[LaLaBelle]

,

 

[ShanandBoc]

I havent blindly followed advice from the web or a book, our government here backs the abstain message. And tbh even if they said 1-2 units is fine (which isnt 1 -2 glasses btw) i still wouldnt anyway. Thats my choice x

 

[Rachyroux]

I ocassionaly think "Oh i'd love to be sitting in the sun in France with a bottle of desperados"
and yes I ocassionaly look at tobacco and papers that my mum or boyfriend have left lying about and I think, "Oh i'd love a cigarette"
we are all human.
I personally cut out all risks, because no experts even know what the safe ammount is and they change their minds all the time.
Smoking is much more tempting for me because I was addicted for so long.
and it has been hard so I can understand how people haven't quit!
I was just hoping that people wouldn't get nasty, and personal and start targeting specific people for what they've said.
I also will never understand the whole you can't say anything about drinking/smoking if you eat chocolate.
At the end of the day, we're all never going to agree, I will not be nasty or cruel to people and target them for their choice and they should not do the same to other people.
My mum smoked whilst pregnant on me, I'm not nasty to her about it, but me and my brother were small when we were born and he had breathing problems.
And there is NO one answer to how much you should drink, no one knows so i'm not playing a "i hope this ammount is ok" , because I don't see the point. To me there is no temptation. But like I said that's just me.

Sadly I've seen this thread start to get very heated and I do think some people are being nasty and too personal to people.

 

[ShanandBoc]

a standard pub measure (50 ml) of fortified wine = 1 unit

 

[LaLaBelle]

.

 

[ShanandBoc]

Taking it to extremes is ridiculous, avoidable risks is what she is referring to

 

[Rachyroux]

I ocassionaly think "Oh i'd love to be sitting in the sun in France with a bottle of desperados"
and yes I ocassionaly look at tobacco and papers that my mum or boyfriend have left lying about and I think, "Oh i'd love a cigarette"
we are all human.
I personally cut out all risks, because no experts even know what the safe ammount is and they change their minds all the time.

You personally cut out ALL risks? You must get so bored, sitting at home, unable to ever drive in a car or take transportation anywhere.

there's a massive massive difference in stepping out of my house and drinking a glass of wine or smoking fags.. I don't target you for saying you have the occasional glass of wine so don't do the same to me, quote me for something i've said and try to be all clever, claim that i'm unintelligent or patronise me as I haven't done to you.

 

[mummy2lola]

See why get personal and target people? My god it's rediculous now

 

[LaLaBelle]

.

 

[Rachyroux]

I did everything I could, in my post to say "I hope I don't offend, I don't want to argue, this is MY opinion, I'm not looking down my nose, I hope this helps people quit, well done to those who have, keep trying to those who are still doing so as I know it's hard"
I'm not a person who has quit who tells people who haven't that they're scum, I know some people are like that but I'm not. I went to visit a friend who is due in 2 days and she's still smoking 10 a day. It made me sad but yes it's her choice. I didn't call her anything, think I was any better than her etc,

And then you get those LOOKING for a debate, and do the whole:
I'm going to quote 3 lines of what you said and go completely over the top and target you and twist your words.
which is why I nearly didn't comment on this thread AT ALL!

 

[heather91]

The whole topic is ridiculous, all it ever does is cause arguments and cause offense to everyone. Wish it was banned tbh! It causes ill feeling where it's not needed/wanted. We're all pregnant which is a gift IMO we should be enjoying it and having fun, not bickering about how other people live their lives.

The OP was making a point about a friend who smokes and drinks excessively, lets not take it out of context.

 

[LaLaBelle]

/

 

[ShanandBoc]

^ Yeh i agree, it should be banned...... It always ends with people getting upset over differing opinions

 

[ess]

I don't get why junk food and chocolate always gets bought into these types of threads.when it's illegal to buy a chocolate bar under the age of 18 or illegal to eat a mcdonalds in public then I'm sure there will also be people who steer clear of that completely too when before they had it alot.surely there's a reason why these things are illegal under 18? That being said as I've stated before that it's a personal choice for everyone if they smoke or drink in pregnancy I was just trying to state about chocolate and things

ladies at the end of the day it's UR choice eithwr way and that's all that matters xx

Just because something is legal from an early age, does not make it necessarily good for us- and children from the age of five are legally allowed to drink at home. The reason I used the caffeine and junk food comparison was to point out that we all consume things during our pregnancy that are not necessarily beneficial to the baby- but because alcohol has a stigma attached- this is frowned upon and junk food isn't!!

 

[ShanandBoc]

Its all bad lol. But i see what u are saying......