Should you drink non-alcoholic wine while pregnant?

A lot of soon-to-be moms are curious to know if they can (or should) drink non-alcoholic wine while pregnant. Find out whether drinking non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic drinks is a good idea for pregnant women.

Can you drink non-alcoholic wine during pregnancy?

If you have been an occasional drinker before pregnancy, you might have a very reasonable question: what should I drink while pregnant? With the existence of non-alcoholic wine (or beer, for that matter), you might think that it would be a good idea to switch to them for the next nine months. But would it really be that good of an idea?

To this day, there has been no research into non-alcoholic beverages specifically and their effect on pregnancy. That said, it is known that even the drinks that claim to have 0% alcohol often have from 0.5% to as much as 1.8% of it in them. And, as we all know, alcohol and pregnancy do not go well together.

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Now, there are moms who drink a glass of wine occasionally while pregnant who say that their children have turned out OK in the end, but you really should not take that chance. No matter how many people claim that one glass of wine (even non-alcoholic) every once in a while will not hurt, research says that no amount of alcohol is safe to consume during pregnancy.

Thus, even if you drink rarely and in very small quantities, you might want to stay away from the seemingly non-alcoholic drinks if you want to avoid raising the chances of harming your baby. No matter how little residual alcohol is left in them, it is still too much to risk.

Effects of alcohol on pregnancy

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Now, if you are still not convinced whether you should replace alcohol during pregnancy with non-alcoholic substitutes, such as non-alcoholic wine or beer, here are some of the effects alcohol can have on a foetus:

• Growth problems. The child exposed to alcohol (no matter how little) before birth has a chance of being significantly smaller than the rest of the kids their age.
• Distinctive facial features. Because of exposure to alcohol, the child can have a small head, narrow eyes and a flat face.
• Birth defects. Alcohol exposes the foetus to a wide array of defects, including issues with the heart, skeleton and kidneys.
• Behavioural and learning problems. The child might have troubles with poor judgement, as well as fall behind in school.

This is only a short list of possible effects of alcohol on a child who is still in the womb. Consider the aforementioned information before you get yourself a bottle of non-alcoholic wine. Do you really need it that much that you are willing to risk harming your baby?

In conclusion, non-alcoholic wine during pregnancy: can you drink it? You can, but whether you should is up to you. Also, you can ask your doctor for advice.

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Source: Naija.ng