Hellobee Boards

@yoursilverlining: exactly!

F*cking appalling.

this is dissappointing.

@MrsSCB: this exactly. I find this whole thing patronizing and offensive. I already found the guidance before this to be over the top and condescending, because it implies that a woman can't be trusted to have a few sips in their third trimester or whatever. It just perpetuates the pathetic treatment of pregnant women in the US as these delicate flowers that can't make decisions for themselves. Ugh.

Shameful, CDC.

@jedeve: I agree with what you're saying here. Full disclosure - I had a few drinks during the 2 week wait with my daughter. Stopped once I got the positive test. I did have a few sips of wine here and there while touring Europe in late 2nd trimester/early 3rd - always less than half a glass.

I work in public health and even I think this message will alienate people and not have it's intended effect. BUT the problem is that nobody knows what the "safe" level of alcohol is for any woman - we have cases of FAS with women who drank very little and cases with women who drank a lot.

I still don't think a few sips of wine or beer will hurt anyone, but as a culture I think we've begun to believe that only heavy drinking causes FAS and that's not really true. It's impossible to set a 'safe' limit.

@Maysprout: yes, I agree. Women who *could* ever be pregnant (ie. are not on birth control), should receive a government stipend each month to ensure that issues related to stress, poverty, dangerous relationship, mental health problems, and unsafe housing situation don't negatively affect their pregnancy.

What? That's too difficult?

Scratch all that, let's just make ALL WOMEN of childbearing age scrutinized by the public whenever they order a drink.

I also heard there's these great full-length covers that are popular in the middle east that deter rapists. We should look into those, too.

This is ridiculous. I'd love to see just one instance of a person who casually drank before they knew they were pregnant actually have a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome. It won't happen you know why? Because it actually takes REALLY large amounts of daily alcohol use.

Here's a great link with actual facts, like the fact that no studies have shown any harmful effects from drinking 1-3 drinks a week: https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alcohol-and-pregnancy/

You know, studies conducted at drinking establishments near educational institutions show that you are more likely to drink if you are surrounded by other people that drink. Therefore, we should prohibit men from consuming alcohol if they know a woman of childbearing age. QED!
Oh wait, you mean the U.S. (and Canada) has tried prohibition, and it didn't work so well? Hmm, well, I'm at a loss!

@Autumnmama79: 0.2-1.5 per 1000, clearly rampant...

I'm pretty sure I exist without being a potential baby vessel!

I just skimmed the article... But what if you're of childbearing age but not sexually active? Are you "allowed" to drink then without being on birth control?

@Purpledaisy: Didn't you see? One of the risks of drinking to a woman is unintended pregnancy!!

this is ridiculous. that's all.

@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.

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.

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...

@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.

@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!

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!

@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.

@Autumnmama79: the CDC info graphic linked to in the original post says 1 in 20.

@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." <-- My favorite thing I have read on the internet today.