Now that I’m a mommy-to-be myself, the questions I’m asked about health and medicine veer even more into the “motherhood” category, and this question in particular is one that is quite common. Whether you’re a mom, planning on becoming a mom in the near future, or are friends with women in either boat, I’m sure the answer will be useful to you!
Now I don’t encourage heavy alcohol consumption at any point of your life pregnant or not, but we’ve all had a “celebratory night” or two in the past, and I’m 100% behind you if from time to time you want a glass of wine to unwind after a long day (when you’re not with child). More women than you may suspect often find out they’re pregnant shortly after they’ve experienced one of the two types of nights I described above. This causes many of these new mommy-to-be’s to panic and wonder, “Have I harmed my baby?” “Should I go see my doctor?” To help ease these scary thoughts let me be the first to say, Don’t freak out! It’s highly unlikely your night out or in has made a negative impact on the tiny, little cluster of cells beginning to grow inside you. I myself had this same fear when I first found out I was pregnant. Truth time: I had Botox 3 weeks before I found out I was pregnant, and I had two glasses of wine the night before I found out! OMG I was worried. But the truth is, that the body is an amazing system. And honestly if anything is wrong with your budding pregnancy in the beginning stages when your baby is still an embryo – a tiny cluster of cells, well, then the body has it’s ways of working it out. Most miscarriages early on in pregnancies are due to chromosomal abnormalities, and usually occur and women don’t even know they were even ever pregnant.
Now back to that glass of wine or a shot of vodka and your budding baby. No pregnancy can ever be guaranteed to be perfect, but studies have shown repeatedly as have the real life experiences of women around the world that if you had a few drinks early in your first trimester before knowing you were pregnant and especially before you were 6 weeks pregnant then you CAN and WILL most likely have a healthy baby. The time that we are most concerned about birth defects and alcohol consumption is the period when the baby’s organs are forming, called organogenesis, which occurs between weeks 6 and 12. During this time a women puts her baby at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome and other complications if she is drinking heavily – meaning at least 3 or more drinks a day. And of course, you don’t want to keep drinking once you have found out you are pregnant as it can lead to low birth weight, premature birth and other complications.
I encourage you to stay away from the booze and all other “naughty” treats during the rest of your pregnancy, as anything you eat or drink your baby eats and drinks as well, but that cocktail or two you had before you knew you were even with child is nothing to lose sleep over!
Wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy
Dr. V