What Kind Of Wine Can Pregnant Women Drink?

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a mother and having your own kids and family as a child? If so, then you will have a pretty memorable pregnancy journey.

However, this might be challenging if you have been an alcoholic during your singlehood because you must help yourself avoid alcoholic drinks. Though, if it is too hard for you to abstain, you should know what kind of wine pregnant women can drink.

What is wine?

Before we answer the question of what kind of wine pregnant women can drink, it is better that we at least understand what wine is.

Wine is one of the many alcoholic drinks most people prefer. There are a lot of various expensive brands that most filthy-rich people prefer simply because it tastes a lot better than the cheap one, which you can buy in a local convenience store.

Wine is far different from the usual alcoholic beverages you know, like beer, sake, whisky, tequila, and such. These types of alcoholic drinks undergo a very complex process compared to wine.

To make it simple, ideally, a wine is made out of grapes that have been crushed, macerated, and fermented.

But technically, it can be made out of any type of fruit as long as it has been macerated and fermented, but when the label only says wine, trust that it is made out of fermented grape juice. Moreover, you must remember that the grapes used for making wine differ from the table grapes we usually eat.

Wine comprises different components after the winemaking procedure, including water, alcohol, residual sugar, glycerol, acids, aromatics, phenolics, and other compounds.

Can A Pregnant Woman Drink Wine?

Ideally, pregnant women are not advised to drink any alcoholic beverages, even if it is just a glass or a bottle of wine. So the answer is no, they cannot drink wine. Women expecting a child are supposed to abstain unless they want to risk the health of the fetus they are carrying in their womb.

According to a study done by Zuccolo and the co-authors, pregnant women who consume around two to three glasses of wine in a week or a total of 32 grams tend to have a higher risk of preterm birth problems. However, they also claimed that the sudden increase in risk is primarily because of the alcohol intake, or there are also other factors included.

In addition, around January 2016, the Department of Health in the United Kingdom issued a few guidelines regarding the alcohol consumption of pregnant women. In the said guidelines, it was stated that any kind of alcoholic beverage is safe to drink. Thus, they highly recommend that little to no amount of alcohol must be consumed by conceived women.

Henceforth, it is universally encouraged by most healthcare workers that pregnant women avoid or abstain from taking any alcoholic beverage such as wine, beer, and alike.

What Kind of Wine Can a Pregnant Woman Drink?

A woman should abstain from drinking any alcoholic beverages such as wine during their pregnancy journey. But, this cannot be avoided, especially if drinking alcohol has been a routine for them even before they got pregnant. Hence, the only beverage that is safe for them to drink is a non-alcoholic wine.

Non-alcoholic wine is the only preferred kind of wine that is allowed for expecting mothers who want to satisfy their thirst for their alcoholic habit. It is safe to say that no pre-birth defects will affect the baby in the womb because non-alcoholic wines, as the term implies, are alcohol-free beverages.

It is a kind of wine with almost all the necessary ingredients a typical wine usually has except for the alcohol content. Thus, non-alcoholic wine undergoes the same production process but with a different approach than the usual ones. It has to undergo a de-alcoholization stage to remove the alcohol content making it alcohol-free.

3 Possible Dangers When a Pregnant Woman Drink Wine

We have already established that doctors do not recommend pregnant women to drink alcoholic beverages such as wine, even during the early stages of pregnancy. This is merely because there are potential dangers that may happen or can affect the development of a pregnant woman’s fetus in her womb.

Below are the possible dangers a pregnant woman may encounter when she does not abstain from any alcoholic drinks, including wine:

Premature birth and Low Birth Weight

Premature birth may occur when a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy. Premature birth, most commonly known as preterm birth, is when the mother labors a little earlier than her due date.

The full weeks of pregnancy are around 37 weeks. Thus, a baby is called premature. Moreover, since the baby was born earlier than its due date, the baby usually suffers severe illnesses and is usually at a higher risk of fatality. Herewith, they typically experience some breathing concerns.

Learn more about preterm birth with this educational YouTube video below:

Fetal Alcohol Syndrom Also Known As FAS

FAS or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome occurs when pregnant women are exposed to too many alcoholic beverages. It usually causes the baby severe illnesses and congenital disabilities such as growth and brain damage. There are a lot of physical defects as well as behavioral concerns that you may notice in a child that has FAS.

Abnormal Facial Features

Though having abnormal facial features is somewhat related to both FAS and premature birth, this one, too, is one of the possible dangers that could happen to your baby when you do not abstain from drinking alcoholic drinks while still pregnant.

7 Recommended Non-Alcoholic Wines You Can Drink While Pregnant

If you cannot avoid drinking alcohol, many non-alcoholic wines will serve as an alternative to satisfy your craving for alcoholic drinks.

BRAND	ALCOHOL CONTENT	PRICE
Giesen Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc	0.0%	$13-$15
Pierre ChavinPrestige Merlot Rouge	0.0%	$25
Señorio de la Tautila Espumoso Blanco Sparkling White	0.0%	$25.99
Gruvi Bubbly Sparkling Rose	0.0%	$15-$17 per 4-pack
Thomson & Scott Noughty Organic Sparkling  Chardonnay	0.0%	$11-$13
Vignette Wine Country Sodas	0.0%	$36 per 12-bottle sample pack
Pierre Chavin Perle Bleu French Sparkling Wine	0.0%	$32.99

5 Different Kinds of Wine

As we grow older, drinking alcoholic drinks tends to become a standard, especially for people who are into business, because you need to attend parties frequently to look for more connections and acquaintances. Hence, you must know the five different kinds of wine.

This is also essential for women who are expecting to have a child and cannot afford to abstain until they finally give birth. Of course, pregnancy is a serious matter, and all expectant mothers must take care of themselves and stay healthy. Not every woman is allowed to bear a child.

Listed below are the 5 different kinds of wine that you should know about:

Dessert Wine

Dessert Wine is one among many kinds of wine. And as the name of this wine implies, this is often sipped and paired after every meal while you enjoy your sweet desserts.

Moreover, it is ordinarily sweet and has a higher alcohol content, usually 10 to 15 percent alcohol content, compared to the other wines. It is often produced by fermenting a partial portion of the wine, so most of the things left are sugar residue. Hence, it is also called a sweet wine.

Remember that dessert wines are often served using smaller glasses than the usual ones and are usually white, red, or rose in color. You can also try various dessert wines and enjoy their unique taste. Dessert wines are best paired with cakes, chocolate, soft cheeses, and other desserts.

Fortified Wine

Not all people know that fortified wine exists; usually, only wine drinkers know what a fortified wine is and how it tastes. It is a kind of wine that consists of some distilled spirits, and the most common and famous examples of fortified wine include Marsala, Vermouth, and Sherry.

The added spirit for this kind of wine can intensify the natural flavor of a wine. Moreover, fortified wine also has a high alcohol content, usually at an average of 17 to 20 percent.

Red Wine

The most famous among all kinds of wine is red wine; almost everyone knows that it is made out of crushed and fermented dark grapes or also called wine grapes.

There is also a wide variety of red wines with unique tastes; some can be used for cooking aside from casual drinking. You will know that it is red wine because it is naturally red because of the pigment of the dark-skinned color of the grapes.

Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine is usually made either from white or red grapes, and it is also a carbonated wine. There are two types of methods to produce sparkling wine: the Charmat method and the Tank method.

There are four sweetness levels when it comes to sparkling wine extra-brut, brut, extra-dry, and demi-sec. Demi-sec has the sweetest level, while extra-brut is considered the driest type of sparkling wine.

White Wine

Another famous type of wine is white wine. The taste and texture are usually either dry or sweet. Moreover, a lot of white wine varieties include oaked and unoaked Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and a lot more. The color of white wine is more of an indistinct yellow that is usually produced by crushing and fermenting light-colored skinned grapes.

Summary

Almost everyone is aware that not all pregnancy journey is the same – some have to be well taken care of because their pregnancy is quite a fragile journey. Thus, if you are one of those women and cannot avoid but drink wine from time to time, then at least you must be aware of what kind of wine can a pregnant woman drink.