Primarily, I would like to congratulate you (Claudia) on being pregnant. This is a special period in the life of every woman and I am extremely happy that you were able to get pregnant yourself without any artificial treatment and intervention. As your healthcare investigator, I worry about your well-being and the health of your child; therefore, I need to make sure that your lifestyle is beneficial for you both. Therefore, I would like to provide you with some information regarding the use of alcohol during pregnancy. Remember that you are the person who is responsible for the pregnancy and, based on these facts, it will be for you to decide whether you would like to continue drinking wine or not.
Since you would like to understand if it is important for you to stop drinking alcohol, I would say that in case you want to prevent the emergence of any complications for the baby, it is essential for you to stop consuming wine. Based on various researchers, it can be confirmed that there is no safe time during pregnancy for drinking wine or any other kind of alcohol. Alcohol is associated with challenges in developing a healthy baby throughout pregnancy, including the period before a woman knows that she is pregnant (Popova et al., 2017). In addition, drinking any amount of alcohol during the first trimester of pregnancy puts the baby at risk of developing abnormal physical features (Popova et al., 2017).
However, these are not the only complications that can arise due to alcohol consumption. Judging from the nature of alcohol as a chemical, it is “a teratogen that can readily cross the placenta, resulting in damage to the brain and other organs of the developing embryo and fetus” (Popova et al., 2017). For this reason, alcohol has been established as a huge risk factor for such problems as stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, and growth retardation (Popova et al., 2017). At the same time, one of the most serious fetal problems is the development of fetal alcohol syndrome which highly affects the future life of the baby negatively (Popova et al., 2017). In short, alcohol is a chemical that is not beneficial for your or your baby’s health in any way but only puts both of you in danger.
In addition, there are other factors that you should take into consideration. This is your first-time pregnancy at an age of 43. It is great that you were able to get pregnant at 43 but, according to statistics, having a child at this age is risky for both you and your child’s health. It does not mean that you will have any kind of complications or problems with childbearing or delivering; however, it means that you have to be extremely careful, follow a healthy lifestyle, and make sure that your baby is safe and healthy. The best and the easiest way it can be done now is to prevent yourself from drinking alcohol. In this way, you can eliminate the risk that it puts on the health of your future child.
Reference
Popova, S., Lange, S., Probst, C., Gmel, G., & Rehm, J. (2017). Estimation of national, regional, and global prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet Global Health, 5(3), e290-e299. Web.