https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:29:30 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2459220 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 22:50:39 +0000 LovelyPlum 2459220@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is ridiculous.</p> <p>On the other hand, it's not that far off from the previous recommendations of the AAP. I read their report, and it insinuated as much-that women who have any chance of being pregnant at all should not drink, because you could at any point be 2 weeks away from a positive. It didn't get the clickbait or media attention, but it was in there.</p> <p>FASD is real, and I would like to know as much about it as I can. But I do struggle to understand how this is reasonable at all. No, thanks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2459198 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 22:34:54 +0000 LatteLove 2459198@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was hoping someone had brought this up when I saw it on social media earlier in the week - I was pretty annoyed if not downright disgusted by the patronizing message and tone of the CDC infographic.<br /> When I was pregnant with my first I asked our friends from Italy what they were told about alcohol consumption during pregnancy and they were baffled! They could t believe that it's frowned on for women to enjoy any wine during pregnancy at all. (They did not think pregnant women should drink to excess of course) Why is the US so paranoid about the risks of every thing we consume? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2451779 Fri, 05 Feb 2016 22:10:49 +0000 Woolly Mammoth 2451779@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was really annoyed at the shock the CDC expressed at the study they quoted showing that 3/4 of women who were TTC reported drinking some alcohol recently. </p> <p>Last time it took us 12 months to conceive. That's a long time to go without a beer or glass of wine before you even get pregnant!</p> <p>We just started TTC again, and I'm completely comfortable with the beer my husband and I split with dinner most days. </p> <p>Why take the risk? I don't believe that there is any risk for someone drinking lightly and monitoring her cycles. Obviously, I'll stop drinking as soon as I get a positive test. But I'm not completely abstaining from alcohol for the months or years it takes to get there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2451177 Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:59:01 +0000 pastemoo 2451177@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JenGirl: right?</p> <p>(RE: "I also hate that the CDC, which should be a trustworthy resource, is making such a ridiculous recommendation and that people will use this as ammunition not to follow other, good, CDC advice.") </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448373 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 22:08:02 +0000 loveisstrange 2448373@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>HAHAHA. no.</p> <p>I'll just be over here. </p> [attach=1353/16/o2061f.600x337.Shots.png] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448246 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:01:09 +0000 MenagerieMama 2448246@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Raindrop: this 100%. I doubt anyone on HB is in the target audience. By default being concerned enough parents to be on a parenting website and be informed. I think the CDC wants women who could get pregnant and are drinking heavily to think about either preventing pregnancy or curbing their drinking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448136 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:20:37 +0000 JenGirl 2448136@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This pisses me off. I find it a huge overreaction, unsubstantiated and almost like a scare tactic. Ridiculous. So should women never get X-Rays? Never get in hot tubs/saunas? Donate blood? Take ibuprofen?</p> <p>I also hate that the CDC, which should be a trustworthy resource, is making such a ridiculous recommendation and that people will use this as ammunition not to follow other, good, CDC advice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448120 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:04:57 +0000 MrsSCB 2448120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Looking at the infographic, which I hadn't really studied before, makes me even more annoyed. Saying, for example, "for any woman" heavy drinking can result in "sexually transmitted diseases" seems awfully close to ideas like "don't drink too much or you might be sexually assaulted!" and I think that's probably not a line the CDC wants to be anywhere near. If they're trying to target a certain population they should, you know, do that. Talk about the consequences of heavy drinking during pregnancy. Offer suggestions for treatment and more options for birth control, as @Silva said. Making such a blanket statement just overshadows the important parts of the message.</p> <p>I also liked this comment I saw: "Eagerly awaiting the CDC recommendation that no men have sex with women of child bearing age if they have been drinking..." Yup. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448107 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 16:51:48 +0000 mrbee 2448107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Raindrop: Totally agree with your DH! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448089 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 16:40:38 +0000 Silva 2448089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's a stupid recommendation. They are not reacting well to a increased acceptance of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. </p> <p>I've completed several trainings on Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and will say this: there is a lot we don't know. And it's really hard to diagnosis, especially on the "lighter" end of the spectrum, where you might see behavior issues, mild learning disorders, etc.<br /> For what it's worth, I don't support the cdc's message here. It's patronizing and short sighted. But there is a lot about the impact of alcohol on a fetus that we don't know, except that for some reason, an amount that is different for each woman, it can be dangerous to a fetus. </p> <p>I wish we were focusing on better screening for women with substance use disorders, more accessible and better treatment, and more access to birth control.<br /> Ultimately women will make their own decisions about alcohol consumption. But there is risk in drinking alcohol if you could be pregnant. There just is. We don't know what the risk is, and it seems that it's probably different for everyone. If that was the message the cdc was trying to get across, it will sadly be eclipsed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448053 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 16:20:49 +0000 Raindrop 2448053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am pretty sure this message is not meant for most of us if not all of us.</p> <p>This reminds me I saw a poster when we were driving this weekend. It has a picture of the kung fu panda guy and I guess his dad and the message was “Take time today to be a dad” I was insulted for DH!! I was like that’s a rude message to put. Kind of implying that all dads are not dads and they should take time to spend time with their kids.</p> <p>DH was like hold on there missy, he’s pretty sure the ad was not directed at him and that some dads need a message board to remind them to be a good parent. He’s pretty sure that the message will help a lot of dads and kids connect and interact while it’s up. He said helping the many is worth alienating the few.</p> <p>There might be a lot of women out there that are drinking heavily during possibility being pregnant. This message is to help them and their kids.</p> <p>Edit: Picture I saw </p> [attach=2890/16/o1zst9.220x220.fatherhood_sharefb_kfp3a_v1.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/3#post-2448017 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:58:33 +0000 Maysprout 2448017@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: I think the 1 in 20 figure comes from this paper<br /> <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/5/855.long" rel="nofollow">http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/5/855.long</a><br /> That includes kids who they say have partial FAS. I'm sure there are different degrees of FAS but in looking at Figure 1 of that paper being at or below the 10th percentile for weight is sufficient in and of itself for being diagnosed with partial FAS<br /> Even though their criterium for diagnosing FAS stated to choose kids who were small height and weight wise, they then stated that one of their significant findings was that kids they diagnosed with FAS or partial FAS were significantly smaller height and weight wise (though the small kids seemed to be proportional since there was no bmi diff between groups). That's interesting science. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2448015 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:53:06 +0000 PawPrints 2448015@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnleaves: "This looks like it was put together by a very young intern or someone in middle school or high school who was caught drinking/needed to do some sort of community service project." &lt;-- My favorite thing I have read on the internet today. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447988 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:35:45 +0000 Autumnmama79 2447988@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I'm also wondering who this message is even aimed at as I know literally NO ONE who drank while pregnant and as a teacher for the past 11 years I've come across only one single student with FASD. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447962 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:19:02 +0000 jedeve 2447962@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Autumnmama79: the CDC info graphic linked to in the original post says 1 in 20. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447942 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:10:33 +0000 peachykeen 2447942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: Agree that it is a very difficult area to study and FASDs are also very difficult to get good numbers. Most people think of traditional 'FAS', which is definitely lower, but the most recent estimates put the larger spectrum of disorders (FASD) at closer to 1 in 20 kids. It's kind of like autism vs. the whole autism spectrum.</p> <p>The fact that these kids often aren't diagnosed until they're school-aged makes it harder to track and we don't really know the true level of alcohol that causes these FASDs. I think CDC could have done a better job at highlighting the risk of these other FASDs rather than focus on purely the alcohol angle. </p> <p>But then again - media made it worse. This was the original press release: <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0202-alcohol-exposed-pregnancy.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0202-alcohol-exposed-pregnancy.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447937 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:07:08 +0000 looch 2447937@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: I am curious, who do you think this message is aimed at? I tend to think it's not aimed at women like me which is why I don't get worked up about these kinds of recs, I have a lot of access to information compared to some women. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447925 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:01:08 +0000 jedeve 2447925@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also want to point out that one of the reasons behind the statement is probably to make it easier for women to get birth control and alcohol screenings at no cost to them. The federal government would be less likely to fund something that the CDC doesn't recommend/isn't a pressing health concern. I think it's less about controlling women and more about trying to get people the health care they need. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447917 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:54:09 +0000 jedeve 2447917@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsSCB: it's still a far cry from being an epidemiologist. I'm not saying she didn't make any good points or can't be right, but being able to correctly interpret a few studies is different than determining the impacts of health recommendations on an entire population. </p> <p>@peachykeen: agree that the CDC did not roll out this recommendation well at all! Even saying, "get on birth control if you use alcohol" would've been more effective. And with such a large percent of women who already drink while they know they are pregnant, they could've focused on curtailing that first. It's an especially difficult area to study because you obviously can't perform experiments and self reports would be even more likely to be inaccurate than in a study not about drinking and pregnancy! </p> <p>I get this isn't the most pressing concern for pregnancy and public health, but it's not like the CDC can only focus on one topic at a time! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447836 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:18:02 +0000 autumnleaves 2447836@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This looks like it was put together by a very young intern or someone in middle school or high school who was caught drinking/needed to do some sort of community service project. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447829 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:16:17 +0000 Pancakes 2447829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>And what about women who accidentally get pregnant WHILE on birth control? Hah, this is actually a paranoia of mine, that I'll be pregnant while on birth control, having my nightly glass of wine and not realizing that I'm KU. So maybe that population of women shouldn't drink either if we are following the CDC's logic, because there's a slight chance that could happen... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447793 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:57:21 +0000 littlejoy 2447793@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is why the CDC routinely gets side-eye from me. </p> <p>That infographic is like the digital version of a head pat: "Oh silly women, you should sit at home &amp; knit ... we will tell you how to behave." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447786 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:54:28 +0000 catomd00 2447786@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In fairness, the actual recommendation isn't as strongly worded as the click bait headlines, but it's still ridiculous. I kind of see how the came to their recommendation, but no just no. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447774 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:49:16 +0000 Pirouette 2447774@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@peachykeen: yup, this exactly. seems to me this is uncharted territory for El Salvador so that type of recommendation is pure speculation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447756 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:40:42 +0000 peachykeen 2447756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pirouette: I completely agree with you! I think extreme messages like this are never useful. Similar to El Salvador telling women not to get pregnant until 2018. Say what? Just diminishes people's trust in those making recommendations. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447707 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:09:18 +0000 MrsSCB 2447707@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I loved one of the comments I saw on an article about this: "The only reason I GOT pregnant was because I had a few drinks!" hahaha </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447705 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:06:47 +0000 birdofafeather 2447705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>this is ridiculous. that's all. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447697 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:02:58 +0000 YogiRunner 2447697@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: PREACH. If we're worried about babies in utero, how about funding programs for at-risk mothers dealing with chronic stress from circumstances outside their control like poverty? You know, things that actually matter. Seriously, where is this coming from. I feel like the CDC is trying to cover their ass when it comes to FAS. Not helpful, just alarmist.</p> <p>ETA: I'd love a study that shows the stress from NOT having a glass of wine when your MIL is around is actually worse :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447689 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 12:58:48 +0000 Adira 2447689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Purpledaisy: Didn't you see? One of the risks of drinking to a woman is unintended pregnancy!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cdc-reccomends-that-women-of-childbearing-age-do-not-drink-alcohol-unless-they-are-on-birth-control/page/2#post-2447675 Wed, 03 Feb 2016 12:50:33 +0000 yoursilverlining 2447675@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Purpledaisy: You must submit a signed and notarized affidavit to any establishment to intend to drink at informing them that you are not sexually active and promising not to become so until you are on birth control. :silly: </p>