Pregnancy Rules Don’t Protect Babies - They Destroy Women’s Freedom

Once you get into the family way, there is a sudden restrain on many things you would normally do. Certain foods will also find their way back to the kitchen cabinets. Some cosmetics would come under your prohibition for a while. But the biggest nos are to drinking and smoking.

It is known that alcohol consumption during pregnancy might expose the baby to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or FASD, which might involve heart defects, liver problems, vision impairment, sleep problems, problems of liver, memory, behavior, poor immune system apart from conditions such as vision impairment, speech and language delays, impulsivity and hyperactivity.

There is ample proof that a fetus could be damanged by heavy drinking. But if you thought that by not gratifying yourself with alcohol consumption, you might develop stress which will only harm your fetus, you may not be wrong! While its true that there are several reasons why a fetus might develop congenital problems, some of which are unknown, it is for certain that most of these problems do occur irrespective of whether or not you drink. But this should not give you the excuse of wanting to drink while you are pregnant.

There have been equivocal yet contradictory findings as to how a little or moderate levels of consuming alcohol might harm the foetus. The UK guidance has amended the allowance on alcohol consumption from one or two glasses a week to not drink at all. In fact, FASD is regarded as a series of preventable birth defects, which are caused by women consuming alcohol at any point of time in her pregnancy; often even before she is aware of her pregnancy.

There is a fairly good amount of confusion prevailing over the incidence of congenital heart diseases and alcohol consumption, as in findings that suggest that consuming alcohol at low to moderate levels is benign. However, the UK authorities have warned woman of bearing precaution when it comes to drinking while pregnant. Low to moderate consumption might have a low risk of harming the baby, but then there is no such thing as a ‘safe’ level that has been determined so as to recommend it to pregnant women.

It’s not only the UK but in the US as well abstinence has been called for whereby pregnant women can be arrested, incarcerated or be subjected to mandatory treatment for trying to abort their children.

On the other hand, some sections argue that the media hype around alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its harm as not having a scientific backup.

You cannot look at the fact that countries as liberal as in Scandinavia, where women’s rights are much more guarded, have also taken a similar stance by warming their women not to drink at all so as to not take any chances in the first place.

The stance of a drinking woman now is that the warnings of drinking in pregnancy are a problem. Moreover, science seems to play a more authoritative role in snatching away the liberty to drink, with the prior assumption as to what if one is pregnant already, or what if the mild shots will harm the fetus. In fact, a good number of women believe that it must be left to them to decide whether or not to drink.

Pregnancy also brings in the fact that many women are made to believe that their desires are not important, and they must give up quite many things and habits including drinking. There is zealous policing around pregnancy and avoiding alcohol becomes yet another obligation. It incites a sort of fear among pregnant women that they lose their individuality in making their decisions, they see themselves as being degraded in the society and feel that they are bound to follow the rules even if they were made for them implicitly. The loss of freedom could build up quite some emotional stagnation, which might harm both these mothers and their newborns outside their pregnancy. Clearly there is more than dietary allowance during pregnancy. Perhaps drinking norms need to be revisited.

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