One of my sister's friends is in her 3rd trimester and she drinks wine quite often. She has had issues with alcohol in the past. I am really concerned about her and the baby. I did confront her about it...but what else can I do?
I think you can talk to her family and also try and show her that it is not good for the baby and also try and tell her about the baby health as well. Studies have shown that drinking wine or alcohol moderately will not affect the unborn child , this could be different with each person though and a person while pregnant needs to be careful with what they take in their body. I think you will need to be careful with how you approach her, and try and talk to her in a calm manner and see if her family can help maybe they can make a difference as well.
The biggest issue here probably involves the baby rather than your sister. Even a few sips of alcohol during a pregnancy increases a baby's risk of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome by a noticeable amount. Unfortunately, individuals with FAS wind up with developmental disorders and other problems, to say the least. You and your family should work to help your sister realize how many risks she is taking with her unborn child.
I'm not exactly sure but I think I once heard from doctors at one glass a night is okay even if you're pregnant. If she is abusing though I think it might be harmful, though even then I'm still not exactly sure. I think the best way around this is to get a professional opinion since she might be more inclined to listen if it turns out to be hard fact told by an expert.
For one, encourage your sister to hide the bottle from her. Second, advice your sister to tell the friend's parents, siblings or closest relatives about her drinking habits. They'll surely be worried about her and her baby's health. If confrontation isn't enough, then perhaps a joint effort involving all concerned parties may do the trick.
While drinking when pregnant is definitely frowned upon and not advised, I'm not sure there's a lot you can do to be honest. At the end of the day it's up to the individual what they can and can't do and while there's no harm in giving your opinion, as for actually stopping her then I'm not sure you have that option.
Sometimes a little shock therapy might go a long way. Talking to your sister about alcohol fetal syndrome, and even showing her some pictures might help her make up her mind about reaching for another alcoholic drink while she is carrying a baby. I have experienced the consequences of my mother drinking beer and smoking while she was pregnant with me. It has affected my health for life.
That is irresponsible. I don't care what her past is with alcohol. That is just blatantly wrong any ways you look at it.
Your sister's friend really doesn't care much about the baby's life inside her womb. People like these ones don't deserve to be a parent. Well, I think you must encourage her not to drink wine anymore since it would cause bad effects to her baby's health.
There really isn't much you can do, to be honest. You can make others aware of the situation so that they can be there and try to help, but you can't just make her stop drinking. In fact, confronting her could make it even worse, not better. A glass of wine has been shown to be safe in the past, but we never really know and chances are, she's having more than just a small glass every now and then. I would be more concerned about what's going to happen after the child is born. She's going to continue drinking, of course, so if she's doing it too much, it could be damaging even beyond the physical damage of FAS...
This is not a good situation for mother or baby. How much does she drink while pregnant? I don't think a glass of wine every so often would harm the baby, but I am not a doctor so I could not say for sure. I would say be aggressive with your talks with her. Since she is in the third trimester, if any damage was to be done, it probably happened already and you will not know for certain until the baby is born. I never drank at all when I was pregnant with my kids as I was too scared to risk it.
This seriously breaks my heart. I know that addiction is hard to beat...but when you have a life growing inside you that is fragile and easily damaged, that should be prime reason to give up. All I can think is the poor child. I know this isn't the advice you were looking for -- but honestly...as others have said the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome is huge. The risk of preterm labor is huge. As a new mom it really pains me that someone would knowingly drink when pregnant - it's not like we don't know the risks of that these days!
She is probably depressed. Usually, they need comforting or make them do something that will make them forget to drink alcohol. You can also talk to her immediate family to tell her to stop it because it won't do anything good to the baby she is carrying.
Sadly there is not a thing you can do to keep her from drinking. It is incredibly sad and very dangerous for her to be doing this. The poor baby could be born with fetal alcohol syndrome. I don't understand how anyone can so much as even smoke when they are pregnant, but this is because I am thankfully not an addict or alcoholic. I sure hope that the baby will be okay. This is really sad and I'm sorry to hear this.
If she cannot cope without a drink now, she's not going to manage it when the baby is born and I would be as equally concerned for the mother's health post-partum. OK, we might not understand why she continues to drink but it seems clear that she may need some support.
If your opinion does not matter enough to help her make a different decision is there someone in her life whose opinion would? You might have to have an intervention with people that she cannot ignore. Also other than giving your opinion provide her with information on what happens to an unborn baby when a mother regularly drinks. Sometimes those images & information are more powerful than all the words of loved ones.
This is inexcusable. I think there should be laws protecting unborn children. What she is doing is child abuse. Alcohol is going straight to her child no doubt.
I've read a lot about Foetal Alcohol Syndrome that I just couldn't envisage why anyone would ever want to have even one small drink when they are pregnant. It's just not worth it, surely? I know there are plenty of stories out there about people who have had a few drinks when pregnant, turning out to have healthy babies, and that's great. But I can't help but think well, why would you want to take that chance? Conversely, people did it all the time back in the day, and it was acceptable, as well as smoking when pregnant.....Doesn't make it sit any better with me though.
Is there any way that you an call a social worker and let them know about her? I think it might depend on the state that you live in but I have heard of some mothers getting arrested right after delivering when they see that the baby has some serious health risks. It might be worth a shot!
So true. I suffered from the baby blues when my little one was born, like a lot of women do - your hormones are going crazy and it's just a tough time. Not to mention the lack of sleep, having to learn a whole bunch of stuff about how to care for a baby -- you're exhausted and emotional and I do really worry about how this will affect the woman in question. I tell you - it doesn't get easier when the baby is born, it gets more stressful -- so I definitely think someone needs to encourage her to seek help for her own sake and her unborn childs.