When can I have a (very small) drink?

[aspiringmum]

This thread isn't a question as to whether I should or shouldn't do it, I know small amounts does no harm at all during pregnancy. By the sounds of it I should wait until 2 trimester. Thank you for all the responses!!

If you're going to have any alcohol, definitely wait until second trimester. I'll be a doctor in a year (one more year of school!) and can tell you that all organs (including the brain) are in major development in first trimester and are very susceptible to teratogens (things causing malformations) during this time.

Just as a side note, I worked in a lab a few years back where we measured the effects on mice of giving alcohol to the moms during pregnancy. Mice whose mothers received alcohol during pregnancy had severe attention deficit issues when compared to mice whose mothers had not received alcohol during pregnancy. (Results were measured by watching mice through trained mazes.)

I'm not telling you not to do it, I just want you to be informed before you make a choice that you might regret years down the road.

 

[coffee cake]

Thank you all for your responses. I suffere a miscarriage two weeks before conceiving this pregnancy. I am not risking my baby, and I would say I am a very cautious person. I ask when is the best time to have a small amount of low alcohol beverage, that is all. I see this is a very controversial topic.

 

[bettybee1]

You do what's best Hun one small drink won't do any harm if you feel like you need more you could put the drink into 3 diff glasses and top up with lemonade xxx

People will always have different views on wether to even have 1 drunk during pregnancy but aslong as your not having loads your fine !

There could be a women who's totally against drinking any alcohol but she may be indulging in sugery treats all day and fatty food which can just be as bad

Or someone could be drink a few cups of coffee as day which can also be bad coz of caffeine content dxx

 

[qwerty310]

This thread isn't a question as to whether I should or shouldn't do it, I know small amounts does no harm at all during pregnancy. By the sounds of it I should wait until 2 trimester. Thank you for all the responses!!

If you're going to have any alcohol, definitely wait until second trimester. I'll be a doctor in a year (one more year of school!) and can tell you that all organs (including the brain) are in major development in first trimester and are very susceptible to teratogens (things causing malformations) during this time.

Just as a side note, I worked in a lab a few years back where we measured the effects on mice of giving alcohol to the moms during pregnancy. Mice whose mothers received alcohol during pregnancy had severe attention deficit issues when compared to mice whose mothers had not received alcohol during pregnancy. (Results were measured by watching mice through trained mazes.)

I'm not telling you not to do it, I just want you to be informed before you make a choice that you might regret years down the road.

While your research is interesting to many people (including myself), please be responsible and add important caveats as opposed to blanket general results. What would the dose of alcohol correspond in a human mother? Were these results published and reviewed by your scientific peers? There is enough confusion between scientific community and the general public and while your research might help us understand the effects of alcohol during pregnancy, you must be responsible in how you portray it and not overstate these effects. I assume the amount of alcohol you gave to your mice would be the equivalent of more than 3 drinks a day in humans, if it is anything like other studies on effects of alcohol in rodent models.

I'm a developmental neuroscientist researching animal models for the past fifteen years... I try to be very clear and complete when reporting any results of my research to the press or to forums in order to help people understand the research. I understand you were just trying to help with some facts, so please add more so people can interpret your data more accurately! And as always, remember that animal models are only that, models. They have very different ways of metabolizing different compounds so while this research can help guide us, it is not black and white.

 

[bluejen]

Thank you all for your responses. I suffere a miscarriage two weeks before conceiving this pregnancy. I am not risking my baby, and I would say I am a very cautious person. I ask when is the best time to have a small amount of low alcohol beverage, that is all. I see this is a very controversial topic.

I know that's what you are asking, and obviously some people think the answer is "there is never a good time " don't take it personally, you asked for opinions and got them. Xx

 

[coffee cake]

It is being made personal when people say "no offense" and "some people have had losses". I am taking things personally because things have been made personal. As I said, thank you for the responses. I have my answer now.

 

[StephtheHiker]

Thank you qwerty, I read people's opinions and medical advice and I'm always tempted to demand sources from scholarly journals or peer reviewed studies Even if I agree with the opinion, I still want facts not anecdotal evidence

 

[melfy77]

I have to admit I enjoy a sip of wine every once in a while, but I didn't start until I was 20 weeks or so. So far, I've had maybe the equivalent of one glass of wine, and I don't feel guilty about it. I wouldn't have a full glass at a time, but I don't think the occasional sip of alcohol causes harm to the baby, especially after the 1st trimester.

 

[aspiringmum]

I apologize for not posting any articles as I figured people would do their own research. My mistake.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21739408

Not our paper, which is yet unpublished, but references our relevant rodent findings.

If you'd like to see more articles, check pubmed.
Cheers.

 

[qwerty310]

I apologize for not posting any articles as I figured people would do their own research. My mistake.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21739408

Not our paper, which is yet unpublished, but references our relevant rodent findings.

If you'd like to see more articles, check pubmed.
Cheers.

Sorry to belabor the point, as this is not what OP was asking about, but I disagree that "people would do their own research" at the depth that you are suggesting (i.e. pubmed). The article you cite above is a review (not original research but an overview of relevant studies) in German - and unavailable on pubmed currently - so unfortunately most people will not have access to this review. In general it is great to start with reviews as it can point you to many different seminal works in the field. But it is important to read the fine print of what methods these primary articles actually used.

When one does pubmed search for maternal alcohol and ADHD there are a few articles, one of which (Nunes et al 2008 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21689896) states
"The dose of ethanol was chosen based on previous studies (Filgueiras et al., 2009), which show that it generates blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) within the range that a human fetus would be exposed to after maternal ingestion of a moderate to heavy dose of ethanol (Eckardt et al., 1998). Treatment on alternate days was chosen since it mimics ‘binge’ drinking in humans, which is associated with severe neurobehavioral deficits (Maier and West, 2001)."

Other studies use up to 15mg/kg ethanol applications which they state represents "moderate drinking" yet is three times the amount considered "binge drinking" by another study. So as you can see the interpretation of these studies must be considered carefully.

This is much more similar to most research that is in the maternal fetal alcohol field. It would indeed be interesting and exciting to see what more moderate levels do in animal models - so when your paper comes out please do share! Of course alcohol consumption is going to alter the fetus's development to some extent, especially in changing the ratio of how the brain signals GO and signals STOP, so I would imagine that a link to ADHD is possible. There is just a lot of conflicting research out there and I think it's our job as scientists to help the general public navigate this - not use it as a scare tactic without concrete, published evidence.

 

[2Pups4Kids]

What I find interesting is when you search responses to "I didn't know I was pregnant, drank moderately a few of times and just found out I'm 8 weeks pregnant; did I hurt my baby?" most of the results are "Don't worry, all is good, just stop drinking now." But then when it's a conscious decision to have a drink whilst pregnant, it's a total no-no! It's just interesting how these things conflict.

 

[jessieJ24]

Good lord, its your body, your baby YOUR CHOICE. Wait till second tri, that is all relax homies!!

 

[Eternal]

What I find interesting is when you search responses to "I didn't know I was pregnant, drank moderately a few of times and just found out I'm 8 weeks pregnant; did I hurt my baby?" most of the results are "Don't worry, all is good, just stop drinking now." But then when it's a conscious decision to have a drink whilst pregnant, it's a total no-no! It's just interesting how these things conflict.

I guess it's because what is done is done and cannot be undone.