We have come a long way in many regards – both on the medical research front and also in the changes in social behavior of what is acceptable pregnancy practice and what is not acceptable.
My first reflection is a photo of an older friend who was about 3 weeks pregnant with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other at a party. She was unknowingly pregnant and was mortified later when she found out she was pregnant and had been partying that hard. Luckily the doctor told her that not much “gets through” to the baby from around day 1–21. The rest of the first trimester is, however, quite crucial to baby development. So if you want to avoid the mortification faced by my friend here are a few guidelines as to what foods are safe and what aren’t.
The BIG questions – Caffeine and Wine
Alcohol – it’s time to swap out the cocktails for mocktails I am afraid. To be honest here I have read mixed reports on alcohol consumption whilst pregnant. The European take on it is that one glass of wine a day is ok, the American take on it seems to be a big no no.
My take on it is that I met somewhere in between and had half a glass of wine on occasion (probably only about 3 times during the pregnancy). This was for two reasons:
Mostly , just not feeling like drinking whilst pregnant – the taste and smell weren’t as tempting as usual and secondly, wine makes me tired so I didn’t want to pass out from just a few sips as being pregnant is tiring enough!!
This is what ACOG (American College of Gynecology and Obstetrics) has to say – better to be safe and say “no” to alcohol in any amount. The reasoning is that alcohol enters both mother and baby at the same time but it takes the fetus twice as long to eliminate the alcohol. On the flip side it is not known for sure whether or not there is a safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed or if this amount could be different in different sized women for example. Nor is it known at what stage in the pregnancy it would be safer. From the reading I have done it’s the first trimester that is the crucial stage of development so if you do chose to drink maybe hold off until the later trimesters and be satisfied with just a few sips here and there. If you are pregnant and trying to hide it at social events then just get the bartender to serve you a drink in a cocktail glass or a short glass. I did this at my friend’s 30th birthday party. Everyone knew my drink of choice was vodka cranberry so I just ordered a cranberry juice in a short glass and fooled them all!!
I don’t want to scare you but just keep you informed of the dangers of drinking whilst pregnant. Heavy drinking (i.e. 5 or more glasses) can lead to babies with deformities, low birth weight, mentally deficiency and a high mortality rate. The probability that these babies will also have a drinking problem is also very high.
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