To drink or not to drink?

[BrandiCanucks]

Baby Bear - "may be okay" is the key words here. Not many people are aware of FAE. It's not full-blown FAS, but carries even one or more of the disabilities that come with FAS. As I said, FAE could simply present as a learning disorder. How many of these kids were diagnosed with a learning disorder or, if born today, would be born with a processing disorder because, although they can perform academically, in one subject area, it may take them extra time to complete a task. While we cannot go back and compare these now adults and say their learning disorder definitely was a direct result of a few drinks in pregnancy, we can take the information discovered every day to learn new things and make informed choices based on what we now know. Just think. Maybe there's something we are doing during pregnancy today that is having a currently unknown effect on our children, and 100 years from now, they'll discover this mistake and advise against it. Our society, 100 years from now, will ask the same question, "How many parents did that in their pregnancies and how many of their babies are fine?"

If I were 7 or 8 years old today, I would probably be diagnosed with a mathematics learning disorder or a processing disorder. My mother had only 3 drinks in her pregnancy with me. She waited until she missed two periods before testing, so she didn't know she was pregnant with me for a while. I currently am achieving a 93% in my course in college, but when it comes to mathematics, it takes me more time to complete and solve math problems. I do not know right now, and probably never will know, but this "disorder", as it would be diagnosed today, probably was a direct result of those 3 drinks. It really all depends on the mother's tolerance level and absorption rates.

The best and only thing we can do for our precious gifts is to take the information we DO HAVE to make an informed and conscious decision, and if the mother chooses to go ahead with a task that is advised against in pregnancy, then suffer the consequences of their actions that they have implemented on the innocent child.

 

[babybear75]

thank you. you clearly have good insight into this and i agree we shouldn't do anything that is proven to harm are unborn chiildren. . . .but there is the case at you just might not be very good at maths?

 

[tigs]

what a load of gubbins - my mum does not drink has been tea-toal for 5 years before she fell pregnant with me

I'm dyslexic.. so how is it you are saying 'such learning disorders are caused by achol?''

there are other causes - and I'm not saying 'go drink be merry' but have some perspective..

 

[AP]

Personally I can live without alcohol for 9 months! I dont know why its such an issue for some to go without it at all. Whats the point in an 'odd drink'?

 

[Dragonfly]

I think it boils down to is it worth putting your baby at risk, why would any mum who knew that it "could" carry a possibility of a disability just go ahead and do it. I dont think if something happened I want to blame myself for the rest of my life because my child came out with something that could have been avoided. I cant understand either why poeple are so nieve , putting this and that in to them and clearly being ignorant to the effects they could have on a baby. Is 40 weeks to much to ask for a mum to keep away from drink for the safety of her baby? Someone may say it may not have an effect someone says it may have an effect, i wont take sides on such matters that compromise the safety and health of my child so I remain in the middle and for the duration of pregnancy compared to the life span of a child I will refrain. Plenty of other ways to have fun you dont need a drink.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Right, not all learning disorders are caused by alcohol, but learning disorders are a symptom and in some children, are caused by FAS. As I said, I'm a Developmental Service Worker, working with children and adults with developmental disabilities, including learning and processing disorders. I didn't say ALL learning disorders are caused by alcohol, but they are a symptoms of FAS/FAE.

I have studied this stuff and am going more in depth with disabilities and causes of disabilities in my college course starting next Thursday. I'm also a parent of a special needs child, so this isn't stuff that I'm just pulling out of my butt for the sake of seeming as if I'm holier-than-thou. This is stuff I am educated in.

I also, last week, met a little girl who is a victim of FAS, and will be working with her on a regular basis starting on Friday. She is a little joy, but will also be a BIG challenge for me. One would think I could handle it given that I have a special needs child myself, but the truth is, each disability, even if it has the same name is so very different, and presents differently, affects the child and adult differently, etc, that I know working with this little girl is going to be challenging. A challenge is what I want and I'm excited to work with her.

As for my mathematics difficulties, I can perform in mathematics. It's one of my lower marks, but is still very good (88%). It just takes me longer to solve the math problems. It's true that it could be totally unrelated to those drinks my mother consumed, but at the same time, it could be, which is why I pointed out that it would be next to impossible to take every adult today and connect their learning disability to possible alcohol use with the mother (thus being a victim of FAE). All we can do is take what we know today to make informed and conscious decisions about the health and safety of our unborn children, and should we make the CONSCIOUS choice to have a drink here and there, we must suffer the consequences of what we have implemented upon our children.

 

[someoldgirl]

Another thread which tried to have a discussion but ends up with people being called 'nieve' and 'ignorant'

Please can you accept people have differant views and name calling is not going to make them change that. This is a discussion not an attack on anyone.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

I posted this in the thread from two weeks ago, just to clear up the difference between Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects:

There are two kinds of syndrome's associated with drinking alcohol in pregnancy. There is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) or Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND)

I'm studying to work with kids and adults with mental, developmental, and physical disabilities, and according to one of my textbooks, the Dictionary of Developmental Disabilities Terminology, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is defined as:

Smith Syndrome. A syndrome resuting from the teratogenic (causing malformations in the developing fetus) effects of maternal alcohol ingestion. Findings include prenatal onset of growth deficiency with microcephaly (abnormally small head) and short stature, conitive impairments, and characteristic facies with short palpebal fissures (eye slits) and smooth philtrum (indentation in upper lip below nose). When present, mental ******ation tends to be mild, but the entire spectrum of cognitive and neurobehavioural disabilities is represented by the frequent occurence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), articulation problems (related to mid-face hypoplasia [flattening] and cleft lip and palate deformities), and language disorders, and specific learning disabilities. Cardac and skeletal abnormalities are common. Incidence figures suggest that 1 in 300 infants show some effect (alcohol-related birth defects [ARBD] and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder [ARND]) of maternal ingestion of alcohol, and more than 1 in 1000 infants exhibit the full-blown syndromee. Greater than 10% of mild mental ******ation may be secondary to ethanol toxicity to early neuronal migration and nerve cell development, making alcohol the most common severe teratogen (toxic agent) to which the fetus is expose. The severity of the dysmorphic (atypical) features tends to correlate with the severity of the cognitive dysfunction.

**I hate the "r-word" that came after the word Mental. Can't stand it. Microcephaly is what my daughter has, however, her condition is not related to alcohol.

Fetal Alcohol Effects, or Alcohol-related Neurodevelopmental Disorder or ARND, in the same text, is defined as:

Current term used to describe fetal alcohol effects (FAE). A partial expression of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in which maternal alcohol consumption during gestation has two of the following effects on the developing fetus:
1) Pre= or postnatal growth ******ation, 2) neurodevelopmental impairment, and 3) craniofacial abnormalities.

Hope this clears things up. FAE is just a partial effect of the full-blown syndrome, FAS.

Here's the link to the whole thread:

https://www.babyandbump.com/pregnancy-first-trimester/396763-off-party-sat-night-alcohol-not-1.html

 

[bumble b]

i'm not going to drink alcohol through my pregnancy. my midwife said that the effects of drinking during pregnancy are still not fully known. i don't miss it, infact the thought of having a glass of wine makes me cringe lol!

 

[babybear75]

i've just taken the below from the NHS website -

Alcohol
The Department of Health advises that pregnant women, and women who are trying to conceive, should not drink alcohol and should not get drunk. Heavy drinking during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight and more serious problems such as foetal alcohol syndrome.

However, if you do decide to drink alcohol while you're pregnant, limit the amount that you drink. The Department of Health and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists advise that pregnant women should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week. Binge drinking (drinking several units of alcohol in one session) should be avoided.[/I] (https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=130)

Right the only reason i have put this on here because i don't want someone who has just got a positive test come on here and freak out that they had a beer last week.

i've just been on the National Organisation on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - UK (https://www.nofas-uk.org/ ) which has a document on there giving health care professionals advise - https://www.nofas-uk.org/PDF/BMA REPORT 4 JUNE 2007.pdf- quite interesting read.


but please don't freak out if you have had a drink - not going to do you any good! what you need to do is read the research and make up your own mind.

 

[My_First]

I take issue that suddenly when women become pregnant, somehow they have a lack of judgement and are told they cant do this and they cant do that. This article here, explains my views on it both in alchol and many other areas. I have my own mind, yes I know I wont be binge drinking, as its not actally any good for me either, but I will and have had a few glasses of wine, and will continue to do so. It is a totally personal choice, I opt to be able to be able to make my own decisions.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/may/29/health.medicineandhealth

P.s. I believe it has been posted before...

 

[Jess&Jay]

I believe it's selfish to drink any amount of alcohol while being pregnant. Regardless if it "MAY BE OKAY" for YOU to drink while being pregnant, your child is being exposed to alcohol. YOUR CHILD. Some mothers don't care and others care a lot about protecting their baby.

This may also fall under "I WONT TAKE MY PRENATALS AND FOLIC ACID CAUSE MY BABY MAY BE OKAY" Selfish decisions. I don't respect people who don't think. I'm sorry.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Is it really that difficult to make the selfless decision to avoid alcohol for 40 weeks to ensure the health and safety of your baby? With the field that I'm in, and this is my opinion so don't flame me, it's extremely sad for me to see parents who willingly risk the health and safety of their child, fully knowing that avoiding certain substances is the only way to prevent the risk and development of disabilities.

I've seen firsthand the struggles these children have, and it's very sad when the parents have inflicted these difficulties on their children because they couldn't give up a toxic substance for 40 weeks of their life.

I suppose the only way people learn is when their child is born with special needs and they too see the difficulties first hand. My daughter's disabilities could not be prevented but seeing her struggles kills me. Only special needs parents understand how friggin hard it is to watch your child fall behind and struggle, to not have friends, to at almost 4, still be in diapers. Only special needs parents know how painful it is to want to take their children's struggles and illness away, but not be able to, to have to stand by helpless. It friggin sucks, and it too, sucks, to see other parents willingly risk having a special needs child when it can totally be avoided.

 

[courtney89]

I belive that no amount of alcohol should be consumed while you are pregnant. Any small amount could put your baby in danger. I have stoped drinking, and will continue not to drink untill baby is born if even then. Just the smell of alcohol is discusting to me now.

 

[Jess&Jay]

So I assume the mothers that drink while pregnant, still eat dangerous foods? Smoke? smh

The point of NOT consuming anything bad during pregnancy is to have a healthy fresh pure baby, who wouldnt want that?

 

[ShanandBoc]

Alcohol and pregnancy dont mix. Its a no brainer. A pregnant woman doesnt even look right drinking for a reason (or smoking)

 

[My_First]

Seriously guys, its a matter oif choice, and I think judging people based on information that isnt proven one way or another, is not a particularly nice thing to do. And I dont respect people who treat others like that. Its a matter of choice, and personal decisions, just as it is if a mother finds out her fetas has Downs. Its a choice one makes with the information I have decided is relevent to me, just as you have chosed to make a decsion based on the information that is relevent to you.

I have my pre natel books, all from the NHS, midwife, Drs. At one sentance it says don't drink and then in another says a few units a week will not be an issue. Its a choice that is made which one you take.

 

[polo_princess]

So I assume the mothers that drink while pregnant, still eat dangerous foods? Smoke? smh

The point of NOT consuming anything bad during pregnancy is to have a healthy fresh pure baby, who wouldnt want that?

How does that pay any relevance to the conversation? Eating say "soft cheese" one time is hardly comparable to getting blind drunk

 

[ShanandBoc]

Alcohol is a drug tho, look what even small amounts can do to an adult? Or a teenager for example who drinks for the first time? Any amount you drink does affect your unborn child, even if its just an increase of their heart rate and breathing changes (one glass of vodka has been proven to do this)

Isnt it common sense to avoid it altogether?

 

[My_First]

So I assume the mothers that drink while pregnant, still eat dangerous foods? Smoke? smh

The point of NOT consuming anything bad during pregnancy is to have a healthy fresh pure baby, who wouldnt want that?

I am sorry, why make that assumption? So you NEVER eat Tuna fish, it has small amounts of Mercury, however its safe to have a few tins a week. You never go outside where there maybe car congestion? There is very dangerous fumes in cars. In order to, 'Have a fresh, pure, baby', you would never leave the house...Life dicates that it is near on impossible to do so...