Thursday, January 8, 2009

Craving a Beer During Pregnancy: How Much Is Safe to Drink?

By Erica Kain

Istockphoto

I really want a beer. It has been one of my more bizarre pregnancy cravings. So in an effort to slake this particular thirst, I embarked on a mission to prove that a little frothy beer wouldn’t hurt my developing fetus.
I was dismayed to learn that no one, no medical literature or obstetrician, could justify my drinking a beer.
ACOG’s official take is to abstain from alcohol before conception, and throughout pregnancy. Their brochure regarding Tobacco, Alcohol Alcohol, Drugs and Pregnancy details their stance, explaining that an embryo’s liver can’t handle alcohol the way a mother’s can. If my blood alcohol level is over-the-limit, their brochure explains, so is that of my fetus — and a fetus’s liver isn’t prepared (as mine is) to process that much alcohol.
“The bottom line is that abstinence is best,” Dr. Charles Lockwood, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale-New Haven Hospital said, “But brief binges early in the first trimester are likely to pose no risks.”
Well, that is a relief, since I drowned my sorrows in red wine after my misdiagnosed miscarriage at five weeks. But what about now? Is there any safe amount, or safe time to drink during pregnancy? Read More

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