can be denied at the owner or their representatives discretion.

The claim that pregnancy is sexual discrimination will not hold up in court

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

What is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)? Can a single drink cause FAS? Can pregnant women safely drink in moderation? Who is at greatest risk of giving birth to a child with fetal alcohol syndrome? How we can reduce FAS?
What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a serious health problem that tragically affects its victims and their families, but that is completely preventable. Causing a child to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome is really nothing short of child abuse and it lasts for life. Babies born with FAS tend to weigh less and be shorter than normal. They usually suffer from:

* smaller heads
* deformed facial features
* abnormal joints and limbs
* poor coordination
* problems with learning
* short memories 1

Victims of fetal alcohol syndrome often experience mental health problems, disrupted school experience, inappropriate sexual behavior, trouble with the law, alcohol and drug problems, difficulty caring for themselves and their children, and homelessness. 2
Should Pregnant Women Drink At All?

Is there a safe or acceptable level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women?

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently conducted a large study including 400,000 American women, all of whom had consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Not a single case of fetal alcohol syndrome occurred and no adverse effects on children were found when consumption was under 8.5 drinks per week. 3

A recent review of research studies found that fetal alcohol syndrome only occurs among alcoholics. The evidence is clear that there is no apparent risk to a child when the pregnant woman consumes no more than one drink per day. 4

"One drink can hurt your foetus," a mass media campaign in the province of Quebec, was dropped after a number of women who had consumed a single drink while pregnant, often before realizing they were expectant, began demanding abortions.

* Source: Dr. Hubert Sacy, presentation at the Gode Alkoholdninger meetings, Kobenhavn, Denmark, April, 2001.

A study of moderate drinking during pregnancy found no negative effects. The researchers suggested that one drink per day provides a significant margin of safety, although they did not encourage drinking during pregnancy. 5

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. 6

A recent analysis of seven major medical research studies involving over 130,000 pregnancies suggests that consuming two to 14 drinks per week does not increase the risk of giving birth to a child with either malformations or fetal alcohol syndrome. 7

Negative effects appear to be related to relatively higher levels of consumption per occasion, and hence, to higher blood alcohol content levels. Thus, it appears to be very important never to consume more than one drink in any one day while pregnant. 8

The guidelines of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend that "women should be careful about alcohol consumption in pregnancy and limit this to no more than one standard drink per day." 9 These conclusions appear consistent with the research findings of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a major science body in the U.S. 10

The American College of Obstreticians and Gynecologists concludes that "there is no evidence that an occasional drink is harmful. Women who drink heavily throughout pregnancy may have smaller babies with physical and mental handicaps, but women who drink moderately may have babies with no more problems than those women who drink rarely or not at all." 11

This group of medical specialists points out that "It's hard to determine the amount and timing of alcohol consumption that puts the fetus at risk. One study shows that women who drank only occasionally and moderately (described in this particular study as between 1 and 45 drinks spaced out over a month) had babies with no more problems than those women who drank rarely or not at all. There were no differences either in size or number of babies' handicaps bewtween the women who drank moderately and those who abstained or drank likely." 12

The Harvard Women's Health Watch advises pregnant women that "having more than one alcoholic drink per day puts the fetus at risk for various defects and disabilities." 13 Thus, it suggests that expectant women should limit themselves to one drink per day. The health publication emphasizes that one drink is 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits or liquor.

But, of course, alcohol consumption might have very subtle or undetectable undesirable effects on children. Therefore, until more is known for certain, pregnant women might well be advised to choose the safest option, that of abstaining during pregnancy.
The Problem

There is no scientific support for the type of widespread hysteria that permeates public discussion on fetal alcohol syndrome. 14 Many people falsely believe that even a single drink during pregnancy can cause FAS. If this were true, the majority of the populations of dozens of countries around the world would suffer the effects of FAS!

Some pregnant women have actually become frantic upon realizing they had inadvertently eaten salad that had wine vinegar dressing, fearing their children would be born suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. 15 Of course, wine vinegar, being vinegar, contains no alcohol.

In reality there is absolutely no evidence that light drinking, even on a daily basis, leads to fetal alcohol syndrome. Actually, most women who are light or moderate drinkers choose not to drink during pregnancy. The real problem is found among frequent heavy drinkers, who most often are alcoholics consuming heavily on a daily basis throughout their pregnancies. 16

Additionally, those who give birth to FAS children characteristically smoke, use illegal drugs, are frequently malnourished, and rarely receive adequate medical care during pregnancy. And drinking during pregnancy has not declined among such women over time. Because of their addiction, these women are virtually immune to our current educational approach. This may also be because so many of these women are poorly educated and often lead marginal lives. 17

This is the target group to which our efforts and resources need to be directed in a massive drive to get these women the necessary help and treatment. It will not be cheap or easy, but it is essential if we seriously want to reduce the incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome.

We need to abandon scare tactics for real solutions

This site does not provide medical advice
Consult a physician for information on alcohol and other health issues

The funny thing is when it comes to breastfeeding, many hear have said you have to wait 24 hours before nursing again, and the dr's here say wait 3 hours per drink, then it is out of your system enough to safely nurse your baby. SO if you have 1 glass of wine at dinner you can nurse your baby 3 hours later. I just find it interesting that it is the opposite of what is being told in the states.

maelstrom2000: So does a pregnant mother really NEED that ONE (1) drink a day, or shouldn't they err on the side of caution and abstain for their child's sake?

But, of course, alcohol consumption might have very subtle or undetectable undesirable effects on children. Therefore, until more is known for certain, pregnant women might well be advised to choose the safest option, that of abstaining during pregnancy.

If one spends all their time err'ing on the side of caution life isn't much fun.

I prefer to take knowledge from as many expert sources as possible

Medical School Textbooks Still Say It's OK to Drink While Pregnant

Only 1-in-4 new books calls for abstinence
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthScoutNews Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 17 (HealthScoutNews) -- Talk about being behind the times: Textbooks used in the nation's medical schools still condone drinking during pregnancy, although public health officials have promoted abstinence for two decades.

This month's American Journal of Preventive Medicine carries an article in which Virginia Commonwealth University researchers reviewed 81 obstetrics textbooks currently in use in the nation's medical schools and found that only 14 had consistent recommendations not to drink. When they narrowed the review to textbooks published since 1991, only 7 of the 29, or 24 percent, consistently recommended zero alcohol during pregnancy.

"I didn't expect so many recent textbooks to actually condone drinking," says Dr. Mary Nettleman, professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University and the lead author of the study.

Many of the reviewed textbooks had mixed messages. More than half of the books contained at least one statement condoning drinking by pregnant women. Some skipped the subject alltogether.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can result in both physical and mental birth defects. Up to 12,000 babies born each year in the United States have fetal alcohol syndrome, a combination of physical and mental defects, according to the Institute of Medicine. Most of the mothers of these babies are alcoholics or chronic alcohol abusers.

Many women are aware that heavy drinking during their pregnancy can cause birth defects, but some are not aware that moderate or light drinking can harm the fetus, too, according to the March of Dimes.

"Alcohol goes from your system to the baby's blood stream," Nettleman says.

But do medical school professors follow the texts strictly or insert their own anti-drinking messages to students during classroom lectures?

"I can't say for sure," Nettleman says. "We did not study that."

Nettleman is puzzled as to why textbooks haven't inserted revisions. "All the major organizations, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, public health organizations, all advocate zero drinking during pregnancy," she says.

"I can't prove to you that having one drink during pregnancy is bad," she says, because no one can definitely say that a single drink can damage a fetus. But since no one knows the lower limit of safety for alcohol during pregnancy, zero drinking is the only rational policy, she says.

A Los Angeles clinical geneticist says she is "not totally surprised" by the findings.

"I think there is a hesitation to put something so strong [like banning drinking during pregnancy] in the textbook," says Dr. Karen Filkins, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA School of Medicine who has set up birth defects hotlines and conducts genetics counseling.

Women who have a drink and then discover they're pregnant can get very anxious, she has found over her years of counseling and administering hotlines.

"We experience [on the hotlines] numerous phone calls from women who had a drink early in pregnancy." Most are alarmed and concerned, she says. And she reassures them that most of the time one or two drinks early in pregnancy are not going to have an adverse effect, but that no one can guarantee that outcome in every case, because the limit of safety is unknown.

Ideally, how should the textbooks address drinking during pregnancy?

"I think textbooks should discuss it the way I do," Filkins says. "For those who have had inadvertent exposure, there is no reason to panic. However, there is no known lower level [of safety]. The policy and the stance should be 'no alcohol during pregnancy.' But the textbooks ought to address both the 'no alcohol' policy and the inadvertent alcohol situation."

In the case of inadvertent exposure, the textbooks ought to recommend that doctors advise the woman to call a birth defects hotline or consult with her doctor or a genetics expert so an assessment can be made of her specific risk, Filkins says. What To Do

SOURCES: Mary D. Nettleman, M.D., professor of medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; Karen Filkins, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, UCLA School of Medicine, clinical geneticist, Los Angeles; July 2002 American Journal of Preventive Medicine

So please spare me your "I'm so informed and you're so uninformed" attitude, Limestone Lady. You found six doctors who said its okay for you to drink during pregnancy? Great, believe what you want to believe. I certainly can't stop you (or anyone else for that matter). I sincerely hope that the unborn children of mothers who believe as you dodge their respective bullets when the time comes.

I am not saying that pregnant mother was right or wrong, but I am saying that the waitress does have to face repercussions for making a decision based on her moral grounds, rather than legal grounds.

The problem I have with said legislation is that any woman who is unaware that she is pregnant and has a drink could fall through the system and be incarcerated for having an FAS/FAE child. That is how militant most people get with fanatical laws like this. How many women didn't know for the first month or three? Most do not know for at least three weeks. How do you draw up the laws to fairly represent this? You cannot. that will turn innocent people into criminals, and this sits poorly with me (and anyone who values a free society.)

So what advice would you have had my doctors give me?

Do you know how bad even in parts per million some of these things are?

BTW. I was not the one who referenced that article. I read it after an earlier poster referenced the site. It was to show that there is no evidence that only ONE drink causes all the evil so many are speaking that it does.