> most of the people who listen to the mouse are
> "hippies" in some sense of the word.
Some sense of the word? Could you be a little more
vague please, I didn't quite miss what you said.
> what about that time before you know you're
> pregnant..when it doesn't show..and you have
> something to drink? a little wine maybe? boohoo.
> it's not gonna destroy the child's future if you
> have a little wine before you realize you're
> pregnant.
My mother is an RN (registered nurse). My sister just
graduated from nursing school and will be working at
Hershey Medical Center in the fall. My brother is a
physical therapist's assistant. I think I can safely
say that ANY or ALL of these three members of my
immediate family in the medical profession could give
you more COLD HARD FACTS about alcohol and pregnancy
than you would care to hear.
Actually, since facts are apparently hard to come by
for some people, here are just a few:
"If you drink wine, beer, or liquor when you are
pregnant, your baby could develop FAS (Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome). A baby with FAS can suffer from mental
retardation, central nervous dysfunction, organ
dysfunction and facial abnormalities. These
disabilities will last a lifetime. No amount of
alcohol has been proven safe to consume during
pregnancy. FAS and FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effects) are
100% preventable when a pregnant woman abstains from
alcohol."
"Whenever a mother drinks, her baby is at risk for
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effect. When a
pregnant women drinks alcohol, her baby does too. It
is not clear whether there is a threshold amount of
alcohol that must be consumed before damage to the
baby occurs. There is also no proof that small amounts
of alcohol are safe."
- http://www.nofas.org/what.htm
"Alcohol use during pregnancy is the leading cause of
mental retardation in children. Much of the damage
from alcohol is done before the mother is even aware
of her pregnancy. No one knows exactly how much
alcohol can harm your baby. It's safest to not use
any. Babies don't metabolise alcohol as well as
adults do, so the alcohol a pregnant woman drinks has
a greater effect on her baby than on her. Although
facial abnormalities are a key aspect of FAS, they are
not always present and are only one component of
alcohol-related birth defects. A child's physical,
mental, and behavioral development are all at risk
when a pregnant woman drinks."
- http://www.med.unc.edu/alcohol/ed/fas/
For information on how other drugs (including
caffeine, tobacco and ibuprofen) can affect a
pregnancy, might I recommend this handy online
pamphlet: http://www.ccsa.ca/givetake.htm
This post is for my lovely niece,
*phiL*
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