“Should I quit drinking alcohol while trying to conceive?”
“Does drinking alcohol during pregnancy make it harder to get pregnant?”
You may have these questions when you want to have a baby. So, in this article, we will explain this and discuss the effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy on your baby and what to do if you drink alcohol without realizing you are pregnant.
Do you need to stop drinking while trying to conceive?
It is said that there is no significant difference in pregnancy rates depending on whether or not you drink alcohol during pregnancy. However, you need to stop drinking as soon as you find out that you are pregnant, so quit drinking immediately.
Why should you refrain from drinking alcohol during your pregnancy?
If you become pregnant in the near future, you will need to stop drinking. Your body does not always give you a clear indication of when you are pregnant. So, it is best to start abstaining from alcohol during your infertility treatment. If you think you want to have a baby, you should start quitting alcohol as a means of reviewing your diet.
Effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy on the baby
If you drink alcohol during pregnancy, it can cause low birth weight, facial and other deformities, and brain damage in the fetus. This is known as fetal alcohol syndrome.
Alcohol consumed by the mother is transferred to the baby in the abdomen through the umbilical cord and placenta. Particularly in the early stages of pregnancy, from 4 to 12 weeks, when the baby’s skeletal structure and other important organs in the body are being formed, you need to be especially careful.
What if you drink alcohol without realizing you are pregnant?
If you drink alcohol without realizing you are pregnant, regardless of the amount, it may affect your baby. If you are drinking only for the occasion, it is unlikely to affect your baby. However, if you find out you are pregnant right after drinking, you should consult your obstetrician.
Is it OK to drink less alcohol or less often?
There’s no OK amount to drink alcohol when you are pregnant. Some people who like to drink may wonder if it is okay to continue to drink alcohol habitually if the alcohol concentration is low, or if it is okay to drink three or four days a week instead of every day.
Regardless of the alcohol concentration or type of alcohol, if you habitually consume alcohol, you may not be able to stop when you become pregnant. Consider your pregnancy as a good opportunity to quit drinking. When you get pregnant, you don’t have to feel rushed to stop drinking, which will reduce your mental burden.
What should you do if you really want to drink?
When you have stopped drinking for good, but you still feel like you need something, one way to satisfy your craving is to drink a non-alcoholic beverage instead.
Nowadays, there are a variety of non-alcoholic beverages that are designed to be more like the “real thing,” such as beer or cocktail style, so it’s a good idea to find a flavor that you like.
Experiences of stopping drinking while pregnant
There are some stories of those who stopped drinking during their pregnancy how they did it and what was the hardest part.
“I also stopped eating foods that reminded me of alcohol.”
I am a big wine lover. I used to eat cheese, prosciutto, pizza, etc. with wine, but I decided to stop drinking when I started my pregnancy.
However, cheese and pizza always reminded me of wine, so I stopped eating those foods as well and tried to keep them out of my sight as much as possible for a while.
After a month of stopping drinking, “not drinking” became normal for me, and now, three months later, I no longer feel the urge to drink, even after eating pizza.
“I tried to go to bed earlier.”
When I came home, drinking with my husband after dinner had become a daily routine. It was a good way to relieve stress, but it also made me sleep late and I had a hard time waking up some mornings.
When my husband and I stopped drinking during our infertility treatment, we started going to bed earlier and woke up feeling refreshed the next morning! I was also surprised to find that I didn’t have the stress of not being able to drink as much as I had imagined. I was able to get pregnant three months after quitting drinking.
Conclusion
Some people say that quitting drinking is not as hard as it seems. It’s only temporary in the long life, so it’s good to refrain from drinking for a while in order to welcome your baby.
