Alcohol and pregnancy

When it comes to alcohol in pregnancy, the guidance in Australia is clear and simple: no amount of alcohol is known to be safe, so the safest choice is not to drink at all — both when you’re pregnant and when you’re planning a pregnancy. The same goes for breastfeeding, where planning around feeds is advised if you do choose to have a drink.

The reason for the caution is that alcohol passes freely across the placenta to your baby, who can’t process it the way you can. Drinking in pregnancy can affect your baby’s development and is linked to a range of lifelong effects known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Because there’s no proven “safe” level and no proven “safe” time, health authorities recommend avoiding it entirely rather than trying to find a cut-off.

“But I had a few drinks before I knew I was pregnant.” This is incredibly common — many pregnancies aren’t discovered until several weeks in, often after a social occasion or two. Please try not to panic or spiral into guilt: the advice from here is simply to stop drinking now, and the risk from a small amount of alcohol before you knew is generally considered low. If you’re worried about how much you drank, talk it through with your GP or midwife, who will help you without judgement rather than make you feel bad. Ongoing anxiety about it isn’t good for you either, so getting reassurance is worthwhile.

Going alcohol-free for nine months can feel like a big social adjustment, especially if drinking is woven into how you socialise. A few things help:

• Have a go-to non-alcoholic drink ready — sparkling water with lime, a good alcohol-free beer or wine, or a mocktail — so you’re holding something and not fielding questions.
• Tell a trusted friend or two if you’re not ready to announce the pregnancy, so someone’s got your back at events.
• Remember you don’t owe anyone an explanation — “I’m not drinking tonight” is a complete sentence.

It’s also a lovely thing for a partner to do the pregnancy alcohol-free alongside you, both in solidarity and to make social occasions easier — though that’s a personal choice.

If you’re finding it genuinely hard to stop drinking, that’s important and there’s no shame in it — please tell your GP or midwife, who can connect you with confidential, non-judgemental support. Getting help is one of the most protective things you can do for your baby.

The bottom line is reassuringly straightforward: there’s no need to weigh up units or limits, because the recommendation is simply none. If you drank before you knew, stop now and don’t dwell on it. And if stopping is hard, ask for support — it’s available, and it works.