8 reasons why you should not drink during pregnancy

I was shocked to read an article in a parenting forum about how it is okay to drink during pregnancy.  The article related that drinking alcohol during pregnancy had been found to be acceptable by someone in the medical profession.  This medical professional had advised that no link to fetal damage could be proven for light rates of consumption of alcohol while pregnant.

I can’t believe this kind of approval and green light for drinking alcohol during pregnancy for many reasons.  Here are some of them:

1.  Alcohol is a poisonous chemical

First and foremost in my argument is that alcohol is a poison.  It is used as a laboratory cleansing agent, which is strong enough to clean the disinfect the worst laboratory experiments and petri dishes known to man.  How could anyone think your developing fetus might like a little dip in that?

2.  Alcohol is addictive

The very nature of drinking alcohol means that it is very difficult to stop after just one glass, so there is a risk that encouraging or approving people to drink during pregnancy could result in a problem in over-indulging.  Quite a high risk of that happening actually, because of the nature of alcohol, and the fact that it is a mind altering substance, over which you may or may not be able to maintain control.

3. Alcohol has been proven to cause birth defects

Only one study has ever found that light drinking is okay, and I don’t believe that is an adequate level of proof to suggest that it is safe to drink during pregnancy.

What is an accepted fact is that drinking too much alcohol has a direct and dire connection with birth defects, and that there is a very real risk to your unborn baby if you drink whilst pregnant.  This would seem to suggest that there is a major conflict over how much alcohol is safe to be consumed during pregnancy.  When the scientists are not sure how much alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy, I don’t think we can pick and choose which study we want to believe in.  I believe that if we care about the future of our unborn baby, we should strongly consider not drinking at all during pregnancy.

4.  How much alcohol is safe?

One glass of alcohol is not a scientific or exact measure.  Furthermore, stating that it is safe to drink one glass whilst pregnant leaves way too much to chance.  By stating that you can drink one glass of alcohol during pregnancy does not put a safety measure around a pregnant mother and her developing fetus.

What about the regularity of that glass of alcohol?  How often can you have that glass?  Once per week, or one glass of alcohol every night?  What about the recommendation that you are supposed to have two nights off drinking each week.  When did that recommendation slip off? How much alcohol is safe?  Where is the proof?

All of these questions suggest to me that we are guessing the effects of drinking during pregnancy.  Trying to guess how much alcohol is safe during pregnancy seems way too dangerous, and we should not risk drinking this poisonous chemical.

5.  Wine is not the same as whisky

This might be stating the obvious, but since we are setting ridiculous guidelines around the definition of how much alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy, don’t we need to prescribe what type of alcohol is safe to drink.  Many people think wine has health benefits, but most probably accept that drinking whisky during pregnancy is very dangerous – or don’t they?   The molecules of alcohol don’t have a label, the alcohol is the same whether it comes in wine or whisky.

6.  Unknown outcomes for the fetus

Drinking during pregnancy is, of course, solely the decision of the prospective mother.  But advising that it’s okay to drink during pregnancy doesn’t seem to take into account the development of the fetus.

It can be shown that development of the brains of children and teenagers can be adversely affected by the consumption of alcohol.  In fact, the development of the adult brain is not complete until some time past the age of twenty.  In other words, alcohol has a documented to have a negative impact on the development of a person’s brain at any stage of development right up until maturity.

We know alcohol is carried through the bloodstream of a pregnant mother.  This means it crosses through the umbilical cord, and into the baby’s bloodstream.  Thus it is unavoidable that having a glass of wine whilst pregnant does have some affect on the unborn fetus.  Is this really safe?  How much alcohol is OK to drink during pregnancy – maybe none!

7.  Unknown affects in the long term

Whilst this current study has found no immediate effects to drink whilst pregnant, that’s not the end of it.  What if there are in fact developmental problems that are discovered later in life?  What if drinking during pregnancy can lead to a higher rate of alcoholism later in the child’s life?  There are many social and environmental considerations to take into account that may or may not impact on our health.  But the risks of dealing with this poisonous and addictive chemical can have serious knock-on effects.

8.  Heavy Drinking whilst pregnant

The link between heavy drinking whilst pregnant and pregnancy problems is well known in the medical world.  There there are many known negative consequences for pregnant mothers who drink too much alcohol.  In worst cases it can lead to birth defects, mental and physical development problems.  Even worse, it can lead to miscarriages, and death during child birth.

Summary – Don’t drink during pregnancy!

Please be careful what you believe, and please consider the future.

Please consider your options carefully when choosing whether to or not drink whilst pregnant, and don’t jump to a conclusion simply because it offers you a solution you might like to hear, rather than taking the sensible approach for your future family.

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