Is it very dangerous to drink beers while pregnant?

Answer 1

Experts admit that they have no idea as to how much alcohol is too much during pregnancy. The best thing is to quit drinking, period. I hate to sound cold but if you can't sacrifice drinking and/or drugs for 9 months you should not be having a baby. Children deserve the best start in life and as a mother that should be your top priority

Answer 2

Madam.....in this era of total eduation, you should not have felt this question even to consider to ask.....but since you thought better to take advice from Yahoo Q&A platform, let me tell you that even thinking of any drink containing even an iota of alcohol is dangerous not only to the baby in womb but also to the mother. So just forget about beer and keep yourself in happy mood as God has blessed you in his own way.

Answer 3

A large amount? Most definately. Once a day? Possibly. There are conflicting answers, and some doctors and midwives will allow the occasional glass of wine or can of beer in order to reduce stress in a mother. Some books, like "What To Expect When You're Expecting" will recommend a glass of wine when having contractions to see if they will stop. If they stop, it's false labor. If not, it could or couldn't be.(much easier to determine if it's -not- labor than to determine if it is). A beer or two in the course of the pregnancy (not two at once) I assume won't hurt if doctors and midwives are willing to recommend it. Of course, it is up to every pregnant woman to consult her OB to see what their take on it is.

Answer 4

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/preg/a/blacer040316.htm

Even Light Drinking While Pregnant Can Be Harmful

Answer 5

If don't know this answer to the question by now. You seriously need to head to next book store and read up on pregnancy and alcohol.

It is putting the fetus at risk of Fetal Alcohol Syndrom and other related effects.

Answer 6

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Why Drinking & Pregnancy Don't Mix
By Marjorie Nockels
Correspondent, The Medical Reporter

©1995, Joel R. Cooper
All rights reserved
Alcohol is an inextricable and largely inescapable part of American culture. We see sexy beer commercials on television, hear humorous spots for alcoholic beverages on the radio, and see arty liquor ads in magazines. The promotion of alcohol is all around us and has been a part of life for thousands of years. We entertain and relax by drinking, use alcohol to enhance conviviality and set the mood for romance. Many women drink socially for a number of reasons. But one thing is certain: when a woman is pregnant, drinking is one of the most potentially harmful things she can do.

The reason? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Doctors tell us that FAS is one of the leading causes of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States.

According to the National Pregnancy and Health Survey sponsored by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, an estimated 4 million women gave birth in the United States in 1992, and of these women, nearly 19 percent used alcohol. This is probably a conservative estimate. There apparently is an increasing frequency of the FAS problem in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, tell us this may reflect a true increase in the number of infants with FAS, or an increase in the awareness and diagnosis of FAS in newborns by physicians.


What causes FAS?
FAS results from the toxic effect of alcohol and its byproducts on the developing brain. The alcohol enters the baby's bloodstream through the placenta. Doctors aren't sure when alcohol becomes a danger. However, they do know that women who usually drink two or more drinks a day or binge have the greatest danger of delivering babies with FAS. The equivalent of one to two ounces of straight alcohol a day is enough to cause real damage. Although the fetus may be in greatest danger early in a woman's pregnancy, studies have found that mothers who drink only during the later part of their pregnancies have more premature and small babies than women who abstain. Pregnant women are on safest ground when they avoid alcohol completely.
Donna Nimec, M.D., coordinator of the Kids in Need program, Denver, Colorado and the Colorado Fetal Alcohol and Substance Abuse Coalition, says that every FAS child is different. Diagnosis is difficult, but it always involves the following three physical characteristics:

Growth retardation
children are born small and generally stay small.
Facial Defects
Small head - known as microcephaly
Small eyes, these may look wide set.
Mid-face defects --flattening of the cheekbones, lack of definition between the nose and lip,pugnose, small chin, extra skin in the middle part of eye.
Some central nervous system defects
Attention problems
Seizures
Learning disabilities
Hearing problems
Children with FAS may suffer from mental retardation, poor muscle coordination, chronic middle ear infections, and dental and vision problems. Dr. Nimec emphasizes that diagnosis is made on the basis of physical characteristics, because behavioral defects can be so varied and diagnosis made on the basis of behavior can be very subjective.


Is any amount of alcohol safe?
Most likely one drink a week will not harm the fetus, but because alcohol affects different women in different degrees, even light drinking may be harmful.
"FAS is the single greatest cause of mental retardation in the U.S. today," said Douglas A. Millligan, M.D., a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the University of Kentucky. "Approximately 67% of women in the U.S. drink at some time during pregnancy and there is no accepted safe level of drinking. The signs of FAS are more common in heavy drinkers, but most of the studies define heavy drinking as two drinks a day. Even a single binge in pregnancy has been associated with learning disabilities."

Doctors have also found that moderate drinking can lead to an increased chance of spontaneous abortion. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that a woman not drink while she is pregnant. This is the only sure way of preventing FAS.

Answer 7

Everyone knows that drinking or doing drugs are very harmful to you unborn child why would you even ask something like that. You can cause your baby to be very unhealthy. And if the hospital finds out that the baby is unhealthy due to alcohol or drugs they call cps.

Answer 8

Yes. Any alcohol consumption during pregnancy can be harmful. You'd have to live under a rock to not know this, it's in the news and media all the time.

Answer 9

yes because of the alcohol content, but if you drink the beer from Saudi Arabia,then it's okay.

Answer 10

Yes it is!!!!

Drinking any kind of alcohol and smoking is dangerous during pregnancy...go get educated!!