Free Essay Sample on Nursing Health Care

Introduction

The majority of women are concerned about whether drinking wine during pregnancy is harmful. They are concerned about what to drink or eat while pregnant. It is potentially challenging to adjust to pregnancy and transform in the absence of help from one’s favorite comfort drink or food. Therefore, pregnant women want to establish whether their favorite drink is safe to ingest.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Drinking

Drinking or failing to drink wine during pregnancy is a well-known issue for pregnant women. Claudia is one of the women who enjoy drinking two glasses of wine each night throughout her entire trimester. It is possible that one can get mixed answers from the internet or friends concerning whether or not to engage in a glass of wine when one is pregnant. Claudia engaged in drinking wine since she had read a few articles from renowned obstetricians who proposed that a glass of red wine at pregnancy is perceived as healthy to keep normal blood pressure. They also suggested that a glass of red wine reduced anxiety levels. She also receives advice from family against drinking red wine.

In general, it has been reported that excessive drinking is associated with numerous complications that potentially occur during pregnancy due to drinking alcohol. The risks are likely not to be linked as strongly with irregular drinking. Nevertheless, regardless of the different information provided on the issue, the most universal and safest answer to the concern is that no alcohol amount is perceived safe when a woman is pregnant (Santrock, 2019). The suggestion means that even casual drinking need to be avoided. According to different organizations such as the American Pregnancy Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, state that there is no wine amount at the time of pregnancy is perceived safe (Popova et al., 2017). They suggest that it is important to avoid consumption of wine during pregnancy.

Several Risks

The rationale that no amount of alcohol is regarded safe when one is pregnant, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, is due to the risk known as fetal alcohol syndrome (Popova et al., 2017). The risks occur when a pregnant mother indulges in excessive consumption of alcohol. The pregnant mother is also prone to miscarriage or increased chances of abortion.

The alcohol consumed by a pregnant mother will pass via the placenta and into the bloodstream of a baby. As a result, it is associated with numerous birth defects that range from mental retardation to physical abnormalities (Popova et al., 2017). The effects continue to affect the baby even after birth and during their growth process. There is no particular alcohol amount that has been shown to contribute to fetal alcohol syndrome. Therefore, the safest response to whether or not to drink wine when one is pregnant is to avoid it when possible.

Some of the obstetricians are likely to advise a pregnant woman on a personal basis that an occasional glass of wine is not likely to cause harmful impacts on the baby. They argue that the limited alcohol amount introduced into a pregnant mother's body is unlikely to harm a baby. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that even though a pregnant mother has a greater chance of harming the baby due to more alcohol consumption, even moderate or small alcohol amounts are found to pose considerable risk. Claudia must, therefore, stop drinking alcohol to avoid fatal defects.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to remember that no alcohol amount is regarded as safe during pregnancy. It has the potential of harming the child. Suppose a pregnant mother is an alcoholic or has issues with drinking. In that case, she should ensure that her healthcare provider is aware to allow collaboration in taking steps that lead to a healthy pregnancy.

References

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.

Santrock, J. W. (2019). Life-span development (17th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.