Too much advice

By Victoria Farncombe on March 30, 2008 11:08 AM | Permalink

Pregnancy should be a happy time when you look forward to your new child.

But all the advice given to expectant mums on what they can and cannot eat and drink makes it nine months of worry.

This week, a leading health watchdog changed its advice AGAIN on what is safe to drink during pregnancy.

After saying in the autumn that one small glass of wine daily was OK, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is now saying pregnant women should not drink alcohol at all.

This is despite the fact that there has not been any new evidence or an increase in foetal alcohol syndrome - the disorder that occurs from drinking heavily in pregnancy.

So, all this new advice actually does is stress those women who did have the odd glass of wine before.

I had so many sleepless nights when I was pregnant with Mollie worrying if I drank too many cups of tea or had the odd shandy.

Looking at my healthy girl now I realise I was overly neurotic - and put myself and Mollie under needless strain.

I think we're all agreed sinking a bottle of vodka whilst with child is probably a bad idea but all this debate over one or two glasses of wine is ridiculous.

Leave pregnant women alone and let them rely on their own common sense as to what's best for their babies.