When I first saw these on bottles I had just given birth to my second son. Second time round it had been hard. I had found pregnancy pretty miserable – struggling 40 miles into work each day, coping with a demanding toddler, trying to stay balanced. Yes, I had enjoyed a couple of drinks here and there just to keep me feeling “normal”, less fed up about all the things i couldn’t or wasn’t allowed to do.
As far as i knew that wasn’t illegal…..in fact, I had pretty much followed the UK guidelines to the letter. (no more than one or two units a couple of times a week.) So when i saw this new labelling I was pretty annoyed. How patronising, condescending, sexist. Were women incapable of making their own informed, sensible decisions? Apparently not. Perhaps all those pregnancy hormones running around our bodies do turn previously well-adjusted, sensible women into irresponsible nutcases? In any case, surely it’s a question of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted? Presumably by the time women see this label they’ll have already purchased the bottle, and as they say, once purchased always consumed. (or is that what i say?)
As far as i know under 18s still can’t buy alchohol, and it’s definitely illegal to give any to the under 5s, so where are the symbols of small kids with a line through them? And what about the fat-arsed, beer- bellied men who regularly put themselves at risk of heart attacks? Perhaps they couldn’t fit those on the label.
Apparently staying at home can make mothers drink. According to Dr Toni Galardi we are most likely to turn to alchohol to cope with the demands of children if we have previously had a successful career. Weary, dejected, we turn to alcohol to dull the boredom. No hope for me then.
So perhaps this drinking lark during pregnancy is beneficial after all. It must be good practise to have a few just to get into the swing of things for what’s to come.
Click here for referenced article.
In all honesty it is a pretty interesting article, and probably quite truthful, if only we had the time or energy to put the wine glass down and read it.
Marketing to Milk 
Very interesting reading.
It had me slightly worried about my drinking habits but then I remembered that I didn’t have a career before children so it probably doesn’t apply to me.
Phew, pass me the corkscrew.
haven’t read the article yet, but your commentary had me in stitches. If drinking during pregnancy makes you an alcoholic in the making, then I’d better sign up to AA the day after the baby is born!
Read this while recovering from an evening with my good friend Whisky Mac. Enough said!
ridiculous…there due to French law…but you’re ok if you dont have a pony-tail x
oh well that makes sense then. They’re all *ss heads over there ;<)
In France you are treated like the devil incarnate if you even sniff booze while pregnant but puffing away at cigarettes right up to your due date is not considered so bad.
crazy french….