# Should you stop drinking before you try to conceive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972 "2013-06-26T17:42:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/21 "2013-06-27T01:53:47Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Either way, you are going to beat yourself up about _something_ or another. I’m spent most of my pregnancy in a cold sweat convinced I’ve somehow harmed my baby through things like my morning shower (too hot), That was my thing I kept doing and then worrying about, hot baths. That was really the only thing though, I never drank even before I got pregnant, didn’t like any of the no-no foods, didn’t even like caffeine. And I still felt guilty about not being able to fall asleep on the side they say to because supposedly it makes your kidneys work better (I forget which side that is but I slept on the other one). This is why I hate books like What to Expect. Stop making everyone even more paranoid than they already are! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/22 "2013-06-27T02:28:02Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I just realized that if I do decide to get knocked up I’ll probably have to go off my allergy meds for nine months. Good lord. From my wife’s first pregnancy until our youngest was finished breasting feeding, there were _seven_ consecutive years where she was either pregnant, breastfeeding or both, and she couldn’t use her allergy meds. Fortunately, it was for only a few months in the year when the pollen from the Japanese _sugi_ tree. My wife doesn’t drink anyway, so she didn’t have a problem. I’m not as worried about that sort of thing, maybe a little too laid back, but I wouldn’t worry about a glass of wine here or there. ---
**Author:** ![Tacit\_Knowledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Tacit\_Knowledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tacit_Knowledge)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/23 "2013-06-27T03:55:32Z")
Well, it would seem that being drunk is a common way people get pregnant so drinking might work in your favor. In a smart-ass kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/24 "2013-06-27T04:02:57Z")
I didn’t, but we were doing fertility treatments and I didn’t want to do anything that might skew the odds in any way. I also didn’t stand next to the microwave, but only because I read in a book “Microwaves are perfectly safe. Yes, theoretically, a really old one might be . . .” and I took a long look at my microwave. I don’t even know where it came from: we some how ended up with it in college. It’s probably twenty years old. It wasn’t a nice one to begin with . . . ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/25 "2013-06-27T04:05:41Z")
Drink until it’s pink (the pregnancy test, that is). As mentioned, implantation occurs at 7 to 12 days past ovulation. For a couple of weeks after implantation, the fetus is not connected to the mothers blood supply, so still ok for the occasional glass. Either way, if you test when you’re due, you stop if you get a positive, but don’t worry about it until then. This is coming from someone with six plus years of TTC number one. I’ve read all the literature. Drink until it’s pink. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/26 "2013-06-27T05:41:46Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I also didn’t stand next to the microwave, but only because I read in a book “Microwaves are perfectly safe. Yes, theoretically, a really old one might be . . .” and I took a long look at my microwave. I don’t even know where it came from: we some how ended up with it in college. It’s probably twenty years old. It wasn’t a nice one to begin with . . . That’s understandable then, but my sister had a brand new one and wouldn’t even press start from an arm’s length away and then run out of the room. That’s just nuts. Oh and I once heard a woman say she felt guilty for smelling liquor when she was pregnant. Pregnant women really are crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/27 "2013-06-27T08:58:27Z")
Like **Tacit Knowledge** I thought alcohol was a necessary lubricant _to_ getting pregnant. I think nature pretty much takes care of things if we don’t go overboard. After all, a few centuries ago people thought tomatoes were poisonous but they drank wine because it was safer than water. As Thoreau said, All things in moderation. Even paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/28 "2013-06-27T09:40:11Z")
An article from the BMJ entitled [Does moderate alcohol consumption affect fertility? Follow up study among couples planning first pregnancy](http://www.bmj.com/content/317/7157/505) reaches this conclusion: > [@](#): > > Conclusion : A woman’s alcohol intake is associated with decreased fecundability even among women with a weekly alcohol intake corresponding to five or fewer drinks. This finding needs further corroboration, but it seems reasonable to encourage women to avoid intake of alcohol when they are trying to become pregnant. The effect was substantial. Consuming 1-5 drinks per week reduced a woman’s chance of conceiving by 39% compared to non-drinkers. Consuming 10 or more drinks per week reduced a woman’s chance of conceiving by 66% compared to non-drinkers. The study only monitored the group over 6 menstrual cycles. And among the male partner’s of these women, “no dose-response association was found after control for confounders including women’s alcohol intake.” Translation: It did not matter how much the men drank. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/29 "2013-06-27T10:12:26Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > That, in addition to the ease of watching TV, is just another recommendation for doggy style. [Guiness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgou17SVTYc) makes those benefits abundantly clear … 😉 Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972/30 "2013-06-27T15:07:22Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Like **Tacit Knowledge** I thought alcohol was a necessary lubricant _to_ getting pregnant. > > I think nature pretty much takes care of things if we don’t go overboard. After all, a few centuries ago people thought tomatoes were poisonous but they drank wine because it was safer than water. > > As Thoreau said, All things in moderation. Even paranoia. I often wonder why the hell there are so many unplanned pregnancies, and then I remember: people drink. I don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-stop-drinking-before-you-try-to-conceive/661972.md?page=1)