MYTH: If you had a drink to celebrate the holidays before you knew you were pregnant, you’ve probably harmed your unborn child.
FACT: Had a glass of wine or a mixed drink at your office party before you even suspected you were pregnant? Forget about all the healthy meals you ate and all the times you worked out at the gym; it’s the thought of yourself clinking glasses with your coworkers that’s bound to flash into your head the moment the pregnancy test comes back positive.
As tempted as you might be to sign yourself up for a nine-month immersion class in mother guilt, you’re not going to do yourself or your baby any good by obsessing about that single mistimed drink for the next nine months. A better bet is to start forgoing alcohol immediately, and focus on taking the best possible care of yourself and your baby from now until delivery day.
Besides, according to Diane Ashton, M.D., M.P.H., the associate medical director of the National Office of the March of Dimes, binge drinking—which is defined as having the equivalent of five glasses of wine on any single occasion—is thought to be more of a risk to the developing baby than a one-time alcoholic drink.
