‘Drinking for two’

One thing about pregnancy: everyone tells you to stay away from everything. Sometimes there’s good reason, with solid research to back it up. Sometimes there’s no evidence that moderate consumption of forbidden foods will harm the baby. And the biggest of the taboos is booze.

One thing is certain: drinking is a confusing and controversial choice for pregnant women, and among the hardest areas in which to interpret the research.

Numerous long-term studies, including the original one at the University of Washington at Seattle, have established beyond doubt that heavy drinkers are taking tremendous risks with their children’s health.

But for women who want to apply that research to the question of whether they must refuse a single glass of Champagne on New Year’s Eve or a serving of rum-soaked Christmas pudding, there is almost no information at all.

- New York Times, The Weighty Responsibility of Drinking for Two

Personally, I’ve stopped drinking, but I’m not going to freak out if I eat a chocolate and find it’s filled with liqueur, and I probably wouldn’t refuse a small portion of rummy pudding.

It was easy for me to quit the booze – the smell of wine and beer made me feel queasy fairly early on, and I haven’t wanted any since. I’ve heard that the later in the pregnancy, the less risk there is to the fetus from a glass of wine or beer, because most of the critical early brain development has already happened, but I still doubt I’ll choose to indulge.

I don’t blame other pregnant women from wanting a glass of wine now and then, especially with dinner. I never really noticed how unexciting the beverage choices are with dinner. I do not like to drink pop, and juice is more of a morning/afternoon bevvy for me. That just leaves me with water, tea, or (if I’m feeling fancy), Perrier. But tea has its own problems – I’m trying to limit caffeinenated beverages to two a day, and many restaurants don’t have herbal tea. Those that do usually have only chamomile or peppermint on offer. Wine with dinner is much more pleasant.

Update: UrbanMama is talking about the same thing, after having read this NYT article:

I feel like every pregnant mama tries to follow the American model of the Good Pregnant Woman: no beer or wine at all, no soft cheeses at all, no sushi, no this, no that, etc. I spent Thanksgiving week with my husband’s family, and with his side of the family being from Switzerland and a sister-in-law from France, it’s a whole different world of what’s acceptable and what is not. To them, I’m another case of the repressed American being freakishly overcautious due to media hysteria.

Perhaps it is because it’s my second child that I am more weary of the societal and cultural taboos that are pressed upon us mamas-to-be, and I’m not reading those damn pregnancy magazines or any of the books this time. I trust my doctor, and the other doctors I’ve spoken with…yet I am still fraught by the guilt that comes with crossing those lines – I love seafood, I love wine , I love Brie – and while I restrained from all during my first, I’ve come to realize what doctors have been telling me: that almost everything is fine in moderation. A recent article in the UK advocates a pregnant or nursing mama have no more than two pints of beer per week, and my doc says I can have a glass or two of wine a week and it would be safe.

Definitely a common feeling during pregnancy. Everyone has advice – and judgement – for you, no matter what you do.