Some links to begin the week with:
Re: “refusing pregnant women alcohol is sexist” article – I don’t agree.
It’s just looking out for an unborn baby, something that the mother herself shoul be doing.
When I was 6 months pregnant i went to a pub in the middle of the day (a very hot day) with my partner to get a drink – I went up to the bar and ordered a pint of beer for him and a glass of orange juice for me – the bar man couldn’t see my partner and asked who the beer was for and started to pull my ID out of my bag, thinking he was asking about age – when he saw me pull it out he said “No….” and pointed to my stomach, and I just laughed, and reassured him the pint was not for me. I was not at all offended, infact i think it was a nice gesture, for him to be concerned.
- N.S on
I’m with NS. If men carried babies in their wombs, it would be the same issue. It has little to nothing to do with the woman and most everything to do with the unborn child, who doesn’t have any say in what his/her mom is taking into her body.
- MZ on
women can have up to a pint of beer a week with no detrimental effects. it’s a medical research fact. if someone wants to indulge a little during the 9 months it is none of your business. just like asking someone whether they are breastfeeding is NONE of your business.
- Holly on
ambieAnnie i’d love to see a citation for your “medical research fact.” i’m not trying to be argumentative, but i’ve never heard that a specific amount was ok. my doctor told me it’s a big gray area: one woman might drink a fair amount and have no problems and another might only have a couple of drinks her entire pregnancy and have a baby with problems.
- MZ on
Amber Annie could you please link me to this research fact? Its not that I do not believe you, but I’ve never heard any doctor okay drinking during pregnancy. Either way, it is irresponsible to serve a pregnant women alcohol. Maybe she can have up to a pint, but you don’t know what she’s already been served. Its no ones business, what a women does with her body but if I see a pregnant woman downing beers its my moral obligation to say something. I’ve seen way too many crack babies and FAS babies in my lifetime.
- Bieta on
My sister in law came over to my parents’ house for dinner for Valentine’s Day one year, not mentioning to my parents that she was pregnant.
My husband and I had arrived late,and while greeting everyone in the kitchen my SIL came in to say hello with a glass of red wine in her hand (my younger brother said that appar it was her 3rd glass before mains even came out on the table).
When she left the room, I turned to my parents and told them “why are you serving her alcohol,she is pregnant !” My parents felt absolutely awful. They didn’t know at all, and she didn’t mention it,and especially as the whole family and extended only gather on holidays, they had missed this info. To this day my parents feel bad about it, and any problems my SIL had with her child my parents always found themselves feeling guilty.
I know she was an idiot about the whole situation (blaming her bad break-up as the cause), but my parents still feel bad. I think what people miss is that the drinking stuff is not about the mother, it is about the baby’s health. And shame on people who put their hosts through this kind of thing.
Also, I can see in a personal setting and a public one, that people are very very sensitive because of lawsuits etc. My parents were so very worried about that.
- Aya on
but your sil is the one who took it and drank it so why are you (and they) blaming your parents?
- Holly on
ambieAnnie I’m failing to see where Aya blamed her parents?! Maybe you can point out that part of her post?
- Manda Jo on
God, what a judgemental society. I live in Montreal, which is the as close as you can get to Europe without actually going over the pond, and people could care less what you do. Seriously, Europeans drink and the Japanese eat sushi and there is not evidence that their children are any worse off. I think its because in America everyone SUES for everything. Not being anti-american but its true (I am generalizing not talking on individual terms) but if an American doctor says “moderate” some stupid, stupid, STUPID woman will go and get drunk, the baby can end up with FAS and then she sues the doctor because he allowed her to drink. Seriously people have got to stop judging. I am not pregnant but I can guarantee you that any person with an attitude who gives me an grief for something they deem “inappropriate” I will flip. If you give a pregnant woman grief, you deserve any backlash that her or her partner give to you… GET A LIFE AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
- Get a Life on
Get a Life, I think some people just don’t know what moderate IS. If I were pregnant I would probably have my doctor clarify that for me.
- Sam on
I could understand if they said not serving pregnant women alcohol were discriminatory, but sexist? It would only be sexist if it were just women in general, pregnant or not pregnant, who were refused service.
I would never judge a pregnant woman for having a glass of wine or a beer. It’s none of my business and I’m not a doctor. But in the United States, if you’re a bartender, own a bar or liquor store, or sell alcohol in any way, you are responsible for those you sell alcohol to. A bartender has the right to refuse to sell alcohol to anyone. While it may be a form of discrimination, they have the right to do that and I do support that.
- Sam on
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