What's the story on drinking and pregnancy?

When a women drinks alcohol while she’s pregnant it hurts the baby’s development, but if a baby were to drink it I think it would be a little less harmless, but by no means am I saying it’s alright to do that. But when you drink when you’re pregnant I think it increases the chances of Down’s Syndrome.

do not drink. Along same lines do not do drugs while pregnant either.

I think this article in the times sums up the dilemma. While it is definitely true that drinking x amount of alcohol causes birth defects, the amount of x is not known. It is mostly likely safe to drink a “small” amount of alcohol during pregnancy – but how “small” is safe? That is also unclear. In the US, we have taken the “better safe than sorry” route and no drinking at all is standard.

I don’t think that Down syndrome is a result of drinking. It is a result of an extra chromosome. Drinking causes fetal alcohol syndrome which can manifest itself in anything from mental retardation to physical defects. My brother in laws hands start where most people’s elbows start. That being said, I have never heard of any ill effects from someone having a glass of wine occasionally, but it IS totally politically incorrect to do so in this day and age. I know my daughters would accuse a mother of child abuse if they saw a woman drinking a glass of wine during her pregnancy. The experts say that the jury is still out on how much is to much and to be safe just avoid ANY alcohol during pregnancy.

I wouldn’t drink while pregnant it goes straight to the babies head and it can develop prematurely. Some doctors say 1 glass of wine Is ok but idk how accurate that is.

I was a teetotaler throughout all of my pregnancies, to me it just wasn’t worth the risk. I was also careful about alcohol when nursing. The books say it is alright to have one drink as long as you wait at least an hour for your body to metabolize the alcohol before feeding the baby, but again, I didn’t want to take any chances. The fetus is exposed to so many teratogens, I decided I was responsible for making sure it wasn’t exposed to any more.

Alcohol during gestation has nothing to do with Down’s Syndrome.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/down-syndrome/DS00182/DSECTION=causes

Don’t do it. We don’t know exactly what causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome other than drinking while pregs—like, we don’t know what a “safe” amount might be. Any drinking is taking a risk.

Abstaining throughout pregnancy is the absolutely safest option but there is no medically documented case of a woman giving birth to an FAS child if she only consumes one drink of alcohol per day. Women should discuss the matter with their personal physician.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FetalAlcoholSyndrome.html