Alcohol in early pregnancy

LegacyUser

I'm six months pregnant, and I'm terrified I've damaged the baby.

I was drinking heavily for a couple of weeks before I found out I was pregnant. I'm not a problem drinker or anything like that; it just so happened that I had a lot of parties and family events on for those few weeks, and I ended up getting very drunk at quite a few of them, including the night before I did the pregnancy test. (The baby was unplanned, I wouldn't have been drinking so much if we were trying to get pregnant.)

I did the test the day before my period was due ... I have a very regular 30 day cycle ... it was positive. But it was so early on that nothing showed up in the very early scans, the hospital weren't even sure I was pregnant. Obviously I drank nothing since.

I've asked the doctor and several midwives if I might have done damage. They all say it was too early for me to have harmed the baby by drinking, but I can't help but wondering if that's just what they're trained to say - after all, if there IS damage done, it's too late for me to fix it now.

Everything has seemed fine in the scans I've had. The baby was in the 40th percentile for growth at the 20-week-scan - it seems small to me, but the nurse assured me it was perfectly normal.

I guess I'm just looking to see if anyone has any idea of the real chances of damage to the baby are? I'd just rather be prepared. And if there was damage done, would it have showed up in the scans?

I'm not looking for medical advice - as I said, I've already talked to the doctor and nurses about my concerns. I'd just like to hear the thoughts of others who have maybe been in a similar situation.

Thanks.

Neyite

As far as I can recall OP, the newly implanted embryo feeds off the sac and not the mothers bloodstream for the first few weeks (for some reason the idea of 7 weeks is in my head) so because the baby had its own nutrient supply and was not hooked up to yours, there is no way for alcohol to pass through the bloodstream to them. I'll see if I can track down where I read it for you.

If its any help, I had 2 uncharacteristic and utter benders the 2 weekends before my positive test and it was absolutely fine.

Big Bag of Chips

My friend had similar concerns about the very early stages of pregnancy, and was reassured by her friend who is a midwife that occassional heavy drinking (even at a few parties etc) in the early days, isn't enough to do damage.

She said the problems happen in cases where there is consistent and persistent heavy drinking before and throughout pregnancy.

Please trust the midwives and consultants. Seeing and advising pregnant women is their bread and butter. They do it all day, everyday. They know what they're talking about.

Also... My consultant once told me that they cannot know the size of the baby until it's born. I had friends telling me their baby was "already 7lbs, at 37 weeks..." etc. I asked the consultant and he said its impossible to tell for certain. You can guess. You can measure length etc (but remember the baby is rolled up tightly, too!) But you cannot know what weight the baby is before it is born.

Please try not to worry. Medical professionals are there to tell you the truth. It's not their job to try to appease you. If they suspect something might be wrong, they have to tell you.

And trust me - they've dealt with more pregnancies than you can possibly imagine

seosamh1980

You'll be grand, you didn't know you were pregnant at the time, no point beating yourself up about it. Plenty women drink a fair bit when they are unaware they're pregnant. And medical professionals wouldn't tell you things just to make you feel better.

nikpmup

OP, I don't think you're the first and you certainly won't be the last to have drank before they knew they were pregnant! I went on a weekend to Amsterdam last February - I drank plenty, and had a couple of 'smokes' in a coffee shop; I found out later I would have become pregnant a week beforehand. The night I did my pregnancy test I had a great big glass of red wine (didn't finish it obviously!) my perfectly healthy son is sleeping beside me. I also know a girl who took ecstasy and cocaine at a party before she knew she was pregnant - not to be recommended, of course, but her child is fine. Try not to worry, I think Neyite is right in that the baby feeds off its own yolk sac for the first while until the placenta and umbilical cord develop. Also, foetal alcohol syndrome is usually as a result of repeated exposure to a lot of alcohol throughout the pregnancy, not a couple of one-offs.

IvyTheTerrible

This was something that I worried about too... I didn't find out I was pregnant til I was about 9 weeks pregnant. I normally don't drink but similarly to you, I had a grouping of events in the first month of pregnancy which meant I drank more in a couple of weeks than I normally would in 6 months

It was one of the first questions I asked my doctor, and he said not to worry about it, just don't drink any more.

(I now have a happy healthy 21 month old!)

ivytwine

Happened to my cousin, she didn't realise either, but the baby was fine and is now a happy and healthy 7 year old

From Wikipedia..

Prenatal alcohol exposure is the cause of fetal alcohol syndrome. A study of over 400,000 American women, all of whom had consumed alcohol during pregnancy, concluded that consumption of 15 drinks or more per week was associated with a reduction in birth weight.[39] Though consumption of less than 15 drinks per week was not proven to cause FAS-related effects, the study authors recommend limiting consumption to no more than one standard drink per day.[39] Also, threshold values are based upon group averages, and it is not appropriate to conclude that exposure below this threshold is necessarily ‘safe’ because of the significant individual variations in alcohol pharmacokinetics.[39]
An analysis of seven medical research studies involving over 130,000 pregnancies found that consuming two to 14 drinks per week did not significantly increase the risk of giving birth to a child with either malformations or fetal alcohol syndrome.[40] Pregnant women who consume approximately 144 grams of pure alcohol per day have a 30-33% chance of having a baby with FAS.[39]
A number of studies have shown that light drinking (1-2 drinks/week) during pregnancy does not appear to pose a risk to the fetus.[41][42][43][44] A study of pregnancies in eight European countries found that consuming no more than one drink per day did not appear to have any effect on fetal growth.
A follow-up of children at 18 months of age found that those from women who drank during pregnancy, even two drinks per day, scored higher in several areas of development,[45] though in a different study, as little as one drink per day resulted in poorer spelling and reading abilities at age 6 and a linear dose-response relationship was seen between prenatal alcohol exposure and poorer arithmetic scores at the same age.[46]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome#Cause

Don't beat yourself up OP, it should be fine. You are not a regular heavy drinker and that is where the danger zone is. Good luck and congratulations!

emmabrighton

Hey OP,

Try not to worry too much. The human body has a tremendous ability to repair and like other posters have said, you're not the first and you wont be the last to drink and not know you were pregnant. Good news is that it looks like you stopped drinking just in time. A study done at UCSD showed that the worst time to drink is late in the first trimester as this is the time where most damage is done by alcohol to the baby's development.

But as you know yourself, every pregnancy is different.

I was a tee-totaller when I fell pregnant and gave up everything that you are supposed to give up and I never smoked or took any sort of drugs - ever...

My baby was born premature (28 weeks) after my waters broke at 18 weeks, and has never been in even the 5th percentile for weight or height... He is a happy 14 month old, walking and talking just like all his pals... point is, I did everything by the book, and still my baby was born early. And, even though he was premature, he is still hitting all his developmental targets.

Every pregnancy is different. Enjoy yours!

xx

LegacyUser

Hi OP.

I hope you are ok. Try not to worry too much , although I know this is impossible. The nurses are assuring you all is well so this is what you need to focus your energy on instead of worrying :-)

I didn't find out I was pregnant for two months. I actually fell pregnant before a festive season and I can safely say I was on the biggest binge of my life for two weeks, it my one and only binge :-) - I was young and really pushed all limits. I am not proud of the following but it may help you worry less.

During the first few weeks of my ''unknown'' pregnancy I had a few weeks off , over a festive season, was 18. I drank everyday for two weeks ( excessively), went for days without sleep, smoked 20 a day, barely ate a thing , consumed natural and chemical drugs (this really really scared me), flew to a different country, went to dentist to get filling , got x rayed ( I don't know if the shield was used), took pain killers and other medications.

Found out I was pregnant, didn't do anything for the rest of the pregnancy ( obviously)

I was so frightened however I took comfort in the fact that early stages of pregnancy are just cells forming- ie it is the later stage of pregnancy I would consider being more dangerous for consumption of toxins. Life is extremely resilient and is created under the most extreme conditions, eg famine, sickness, drug addicts etc

Many pregnancies are unexpected therefore many people have done way more than what you did unintentionally. The nurses have assured you all is fine so stop worrying and enjoy it :-)

xxx

LegacyUser

Op,

I was 24 and I didn't know I was pregnant until I almost missed the first trimester entirely, and like the other posters here, fate intervened with numerous weddings, engagements, parties and events. It was also a stressful enough time with starting a new job and i was smoking about 15 a day. I consumed way more alcohol than normal- and took cocaine once.

I freaked the **** out when I found out and I confessed everything to the doctor. I was convinced I had damaged the baby but the doc asked a lot of questions about my habits and told me not to worry because they considered addiction to be the problem, not sporadic nights.

It didn't matter though, I worried and worried until the baby was born and she was perfect, now a happy and healthy 2 year old. (i guess i don't need to say that I gave up everything the moment i found out - but i will)

Babies are very resilient, listen to the nurses- if they were concerned, they'd let you know, and good luck with the rest of the pregnancy!