Wine During Pregnancy
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Can I Drink Wine During Pregnancy?
List of beverages prohibited during pregnancy includes alcohol. However, the opinions of doctors about drinking wine during the pregnancy vary. Some doctors argue that drinking wine during pregnancy is dangerous, almost poisonous, while the others tend to believe that a small dose of good wine will do you good.
The foreign experiments have proved that wine is favorable for conceiving. The British researchers found out that wine has beneficial effects on the intrauterine development of the baby. The pregnant women also are divided into two groups: those who can’t stand alcoholic beverage and those who cannot resist the urge to make a couple of sips of wine.
Can Wine During Pregnancy?
How about the fetal alcohol syndrome? If you think that it is possible, you’d better don’t drink wine to avoid remorse in the future. If the mom thinks it will do her good, she can afford having few sips of good wine. The pregnant should select high quality dry red wine or Cahor wine. Wine in small doses (a spoonful) can raise the blood hemoglobin levels. Some expectant mothers drink wine to cope with toxemia and trigger appetite.
The question "can I drink wine during pregnancy?" – has two completely opposite answers. Choosing a positive answer, you should remember that even in case of the urge, the pregnant can have only a sip of wine.
The British researchers observed children whose moms had allowed a small quantity of wine during the pregnancy. They came to the conclusion that these children are developing quicker (they are sociable, know more numbers, letters, colors) than their peers, whose moms had avoided alcohol during the pregnancy. According to the British scientists, a pregnant woman can have up to six glasses of wine or liquor, as well as up to three liters of beer per week. The pregnant that drank large quantities of alcohol gave birth to the babies with abnormalities.
In our country, similar experiments have never been conducted, so nobody is able to determine how wine drinking will affect the particular baby. Doctors warn that in the early stages of pregnancy (up to the seventeenth week) alcohol is prohibited.
Can a Glass of Wine Harm the Pregnancy?
Why the opinions about wine drinking in pregnancy are so different? On the one hand is the approval of the British scientists and the ability of wine to raise hemoglobin levels, and on the other hand, the negative impact of wine on the developing fetus. Our lifestyle includes feasts and holidays that somehow oblige us to consume alcohol. A corporate or birthday party can’t pass without alcohol consumption. Naturally, the pregnant woman finds it hard to avoid alcohol, if she does not want to show her pregnancy or if she is used to alcohol drinking.
Will a glass of wine affect the pregnancy or not? is a complicated question. Some people may doubt the foreign doctors’ studies that prove the benefits of wine and validate up to six glasses of this alcoholic beverage per week. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Domestic medical studies on the effects of wine on fetal development and pregnancy have not been carried out, so it’s impossible to argue about the benefits/harms of wine.
Practice shows that alcohol can harm the child both in early fetal development and at the end of pregnancy. What does it mean: the moderate consumption of alcohol, and a safe glass of wine during the pregnancy? Let's start with the fact that a wine glass has a big capacity. If we talk about safety, you should understand the concept of wine portion and frequency of consumption.
An alcohol portion is a volume containing no more than 10 ml. of ethyl alcohol. Every bottle has a reference to the percentage of alcohol content. Wine contains, as a rule, 12 % of ethyl alcohol. Thus, a volume of 125/150 ml contains more alcohol than a standard portion. While the expectant mother is allowed to have one-two portions of alcohol no more than two times a week. It should also be taken into account, that at home it is easy to exceed the allowed portion, and in the restaurants wine is served in glasses, which may contain up to three portions of alcohol.
During the course of pregnancy I drank a bit of wine and, still, gave birth to a healthy baby. However, during the course of this pregnancy, I have refused to drink any alcohol at all. I, probably, have become cleverer.