My daughter-in-law is four months pregnant. At a family dinner, she drank a few sips of wine from my son’s glass. I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere, but I did ask myself: is that justified?
Joris Bartstra, journalist with medical diploma
Well, a sensitive issue. In the early eighties, a pregnant woman was allowed to drink a glass of wine. It would be good against anemia because alcohol promotes the absorption of iron in the gut. It was already known at the time that alcoholics have a high risk of having a child with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). These children have abnormal appearance and terrible behavior problems. In 2010, a large study found that children of mothers who drank a single glass during pregnancy were slightly less likely to have behavioral problems than children of total abstainers. Another 2012 study contradicted this. The consequences of one or two glasses of alcohol per week are actually not known. However, the advice has become increasingly strict. The Dutch General Practitioner Association advises not to drink a drop. If your daughter-in-law is concerned with a few sips now and then, I wouldn’t argue; if it is harmful at all, this cannot be compared with the effects of smoking. It is thought that drinking in the first three months may be more harmful to the fetus than later in pregnancy.
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