Posted on 07/11/2007 9:25:16 AM PDT by WesternCulture
While recently awaiting the arrival of a new baby, Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius found herself not so much restricted by her bulging belly as by the opinions of those around her - especially when it came to alcohol consumption.
Somehow my body became public property when I got pregnant. People I barely know elatedly rub my belly when they’d feel highly uncomfortable giving me a hug. Then there’s the rest of the public who feel it’s their prerogative to tell me what I am allowed to eat, drink and do.
Cultural taboos vary country to country, yet you’d think that medical advice would be internationally uniform. But it’s far from uniform, and nowhere near in agreement especially when you mix pregnancy, breastfeeding and alcohol. While all experts have access to the same research and studies, different countries interpret and advise based on culture and political whim.
Zero tolerance for alcohol has been the general norm here in Sweden for quite a while. Americans take it to its most extreme with no-go zones condemning not only alcohol and smoking but all forms of caffeine. Coffee, cola and even chocolate are off limits to the mother-to-be. Until recently moderate alcohol consumption was okay for pregnant and breast feeding mothers in the UK.
However, the new advisory of zero tolerance for mothers has recently stirred up controversy in Britain. I sympathize with the mums like Zoe Williams who wrote a great piece in the Guardian. I agree strongly with her that much of the popular advice to pregnant women is unnecessarily restrictive.
The strict alcohol consumption guidelines set up by Swedish, UK or US health care authorities, agencies and associations all share the aura of scientific and medical credibility. However, a study in 2006 by the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology concluded that there was no convincing evidence of adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure at low to moderate levels, where moderate was defined as 10.5 units per week (not at one sitting).
Messages to eliminate all alcohol are purely motivated by the true danger of a fetus’ exposure to high levels of alcohol which results in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
The presumption: ”If large amounts are dangerous, small amounts are probably dangerous too” argument is unfair. Instead of fact, fear is used to support a “better safe than sorry” defense for zero tolerance while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Those of us mothers who raise a glass of anything containing alcohol can and often do get publicly spanked by the do-good brigade. Pregnant woman is apparently equivalent to–public incubation container.
Here in Sweden, during your first visit to a midwife ask you to fill out a form regarding your attitude to alcohol. It resembles the questionnaire you’d expect from a self-evaluation for Alcohol Anonymous.
In my first pregnancy I thought I’d be upfront and honest. I had every intention of abstaining from alcohol, however I would sporadically partake of the grape should the occasion call for it. Instead of the midwife applauding me for my prudent response from a responsible mother-to-be, she started rambling off medical studies linking alcohol to pretty much anything that sounded even remotely scary.
That’s when I decided to play it safe from there on in and answer when asked how much I drink: “I abstain totally from any alcohol intake under any and all circumstances while pregnant and breastfeeding.”
American friends and acquaintances can be even more militant. A friend second-guessed my choice of ordering a cola during lunch, kindly informing me in my supposed ignorance that it contained caffeine. Just to put an end to the well-meant lecture I replied, “I know. And I occasionally have a glass of wine, too.” It effectively steered us away from any more pregnancy “advice” for the rest of our lunch date.
I suppose I can’t really blame him since nearly all advice offered to pregnant women and fathers-to-be echoes the same message – just say no to alcohol. It’s backed by a rather “reputable” source, the US Surgeon General.
In 2005, the Surgeon General, Dr. Carmona, urged “Women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant to abstain from alcohol.” If you take that literally, you are talking about every woman of child-bearing age.
The warning stated, "We do not know what, if any, amount of alcohol is safe.” What I wonder is all the other things that cannot be determined as safe. There’s got to be a long list.
That too much alcohol is bad does not necessarily mean that a tiny bit should also be too. Too much sugar consumption can lead to diabetes during pregnancy which is potentially harmful for the unborn child, yet the US Surgeon General doesn’t discourage all pregnant or able to get pregnant women abstain from all sugar.
Sweden uses a similar scare methodology. The midwife I saw for my first pregnancy kept referring to a study that demonstrated that a baby’s heart rate increased when a mother drank as little as a glass of wine. She said outright that they had no idea what that could mean for the fetus’ development, but came back with the usual argument, “You don’t know that it isn’t doing any harm.”Geesh, when I exercise my child’s heart rate increases. But no one is advising me to stop walking.
In Sweden they add guilt to the fear using the zero tolerance argument, “You wouldn’t drive a car after drinking a glass of wine because your judgment is impaired; think of the bad judgments you could make to put your unborn child at risk.” It makes me wonder how anyone allows me to make any decisions on my own at all.
I guess I can’t be too critical of the better safe than sorry mentality. I chose to not scuba dive while I was pregnant even though I was beach front in the Cayman Islands. So little is truly known about the effects of diving on the body that I felt I wouldn’t risk it. But moderate alcohol intake has been a part of women’s diet for thousands of years. But moderate can be a subjective word.
That’s really what this comes down to: How do you decide how much is too much and how little is harmless? I don’t have the answer, but a pregnant friend living in French-speaking Switzerland told me that the literature she read in French advised women to not have more than one glass of wine per day. Perhaps that’s too liberal for the zero-tolerance brigade, but something to keep in mind when weighing “medical advice”.
Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius
- In some areas, I guess Sweden has much more in common with the US than with a neighbor country like Germany.
My family has friends in Germany and we always have a great time when we get together, but in some fields we simply can't understand each other due to cultural differences.
For instance, the mother of the family said that she gave up smoking when she found out she was pregnant. I replied that even though I am a man and a non smoker I understood it must be difficult for many women to give up smoking as well as drinking in connection to pregnancy.
"- Why would you have to give up drinking?"
,she asked. She had never in her life heard about any woman who refrained from drinking during pregnancy.
On another occasion my mother and I visited them on our way back from Tuscany in Italy and we mentioned that we were not in a rush to get home and weren't driving faster than 160 km/h (100 mph). The father of the family found this totally incomprehensible and asked, in a serious voice,
"- The car doesn't go any faster?"
I told him my mother doesn't like traveling very fast on freeways, probably because she once was involved in a car accident. He looked very confused and told us that they had been to Tuscany twice and on both occasions they had started by car from Rostock (located by the Baltic Sea in the northernmost part of Germany), stopped in Nuremberg (in Bavaria) for lunch and arrived just in time for dinner in Tuscany.
Sometimes we Swedes critizice each other for viewing Germany just as a 'drive through country' on our way to France, Spain and Italy, while Germany actually is a country that has a lot to offer (fascinating history and culture, beautiful cities, great food, beers and wines etc). Well, the same thing could be said of many Germans.
In any case, I believe Americans, just like Swedes, are more 'saftey orientated' than many continental Europeans, for better or for worse. Another example is that of SUVs and car safetey. Many Americans and Swedes who buy SUVs do so because they believe them to be safer than smaller cars (apart from other reasons). An Italian who buys a SUV is, in most cases, someone who often drives on poor roads in the countryside, in forests, in the mountains etc. Many Europeans, especially Southern Europeans seem to be completely uninterested in any aspect of road saftey and car saftey whatsoever. Perhaps even saftey in general.
A person who enjoys the benefits of a government-run health care system has no reason to complain when they find themselves under constant pressure, criticism, etc. about the decisions they make that affect the health of themselves and others.
Get over it dear. You’re living in a Super-Socialist country...that baby isn’t yours, it belongs to everyone, especially the govt. And just to prove it, check your pay-stub under the line item of “Taxes”.
Very good point.
“Zero tolerance for alcohol has been the general norm here in Sweden for quite a while. Americans take it to its most extreme with no-go zones condemning not only alcohol and smoking but all forms of caffeine. Coffee, cola and even chocolate are off limits to the mother-to-be.”
Please someone tell me this isn’t true.
-ccm
My wifes doc told her to slow down but not try to quit smoking when she was prego with our twins. He claimed it’s stressful enough why add to it. He was an 80 year old and great doc.
- I think the author isn’t Swedish herself, only married to a Swede.
‘Dacey’ is probably an American surname. ‘Fondelius’ sounds Swedish.
“A person who enjoys the benefits of a government-run health care system has no reason to complain when they find themselves under constant pressure, criticism, etc. about the decisions they make that affect the health of themselves and others.”
- I agree. Swedes and other Scandinavians do actually believe in concepts like ‘Freedom’, but simultaneously, we often think we know better than everyone else, especially foreigners.
Even though I don’t feel we Swedes are rude or arrogant, I don’t have a hard time understanding why many Americans find certain Swedish ‘experts’ somewhat annoying. I guess a good example of this is Hans Blix, former head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.
I’m asking about the caffiene part. not the drinking or smoking.
L
At Irish breeding farms the pregnant mares are given a bottle of good Guinness stout every day.
No, it’s worse. They aren’t really in favor of pregnant women eating pizza, either. It’s too fattening, dearie.
If your living in Canda your living under socialism as well.
These are all things mothers used to control within their own homes. When women put their kids in child care and went into the business world, they started mothering us all. Women know no other way to be.
Of course most of the people who would be aghast at seeing a pregnant woman smoking or drinking, wouldn’t even care if she decided to abort the baby.
Is it true that VT is the U.S. state most like Sweden?
I'm about eight months along, and the nerve that some people have is astounding. I got a root beer (which has no caffeine), and had a woman lecture me on the dangers of caffeine when preggers.
Oh, and add peanut butter to that list -- the peanut allergy people will tell you that if you eat a pb&j when pregnant, you're dooming your child to peanut butter allergies.
I asked my OB/GYN what he recommends, just out of curiosity, and he said he tells his patients they can have a couple glasses of wine a week.
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