Why You Should Not Be Drinking While Pregnant

In order to understand this better, it is important to know how alcohol can harm your baby during pregnancy. Basically, when the mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy, it reaches the baby too. In fact, the amount of alcohol in the blood of the mother will also be found in the baby's blood. This happens as the alcohol in mother's blood passes through the placenta and reaches the baby.

Now you may be able to manage this alcohol in your blood, but you need to note that the little body of your baby will not be able to do so.

While your liver will work to break down this alcohol in your blood, the baby's liver is too tiny for doing so. And it is this alcohol in your baby's blood that can damage the development of the baby.

It's no wonder that alcohol should be avoided in order to have a healthy pregnancy.

Alcohol can even lead to various other serious health conditions for your child. These are known as the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These can harm your baby's mental and physical development.

Drinking affects the cells of your baby's body. This is why it can affect the baby's face, skin and other organs.

Alcohol can lead to birth defects for the baby. These defects can be in the heart, brain or any other organ. It can lead to vision or hearing issues too. The baby may be born pre-term or may even have low weight at birth.

There can also be intellectual disabilities besides learning problems and behaviour issues. This is because alcohol has a direct effect on the nervous system of the baby.

Such babies may suffer from sleeping and even sucking problems.

There may be speech and language delays in such babies. In fact, drinking during pregnancy can lead to permanent damage to your baby.

In order to completely avoid such harmful conditions, you really need to stay away from alcohol completely during pregnancy.

Another thing to be noted here is that alcohol would include wine, wine coolers, in addition to beer and liquor. Even a little amount of alcohol can be unsafe for the baby.

This does not mean that everybody who is drinking while pregnant will have unhealthy babies. There are many women who may be drinking regularly during pregnancy and are still having healthy babies. Or there may be some women who may have a very little amount of alcohol during pregnancy and still have healthy, happy babies.

What this means is that each and every pregnancy is different. Hence drinking alcohol may tend to hurt one baby much more than another. But the risk factor is too high. The best way to ensure that you have a healthy baby is by staying away from alcohol totally during pregnancy.

It's quite possible in most pregnancies that you had an occasional drink before you knew that you were pregnant, under all probability it will not harm your baby. But as soon as you come to know that you are pregnant, you need to stop drinking at once. The sooner that you stop drinking, the better it will be for you and your baby.

You need to get regular prenatal care too. At this time, also tell your health care provider any concerns that you may have.

You and your partner need to understand these harmful effects of drinking while pregnant and ensure that you are able to stay away from it. Your partner must also encourage you to stay away from alcohol during those social situations where people might be drinking and you may get tempted.

This means avoid situations where you tend to drink usually, such as parties, bars or picnics. Your partner, family as well as friends can really help you out here to stay away from alcohol in case you face a problem here.

Your health care provider can really help you out here by advising and guiding you about the problems that could be faced by your baby due to your drinking while pregnant.

Disclaimer This information is in no way meant to replace professional advice. Always seek and take the advice of your professional care provider.
Drinking while pregnant can be quite harmful for the baby. In fact, it can make your baby suffer from health conditions lifelong. And for the mother, having alcohol during pregnancy may even lead to miscarriage, pre-mature birth and even delivering a stillborn child.


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