[lbo-talk] Re: lbo-talk Digest, Vol 8, Issue 13

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Tue Aug 3 01:52:02 PDT 2004


Doug asked

"What's the standard advice on drinking during pregnancy outside the U.S.? Here, the standard is not a drop for all nine months. I'm guessing it's not so strict elsewhere. Anyone know?"

Socially disapproved of, but no militant promotion of no-drinking policy. I am guessing if you asked that you would be told to lay off, but it wasn't intrusive when my daughters were in their mother's womb.

But my late mother told me that in the 1960s women were 'confined' for two weeks prior to the expected birth date - a preventitive measure to reduce infant mortality - which was a terrible burden because you were bed-bound, and the (often catholic) nurses would take away books and magazines, which they thought were tiring.

One small compensation back then was a nightly bottle of guiness stout (all free, on the NHS, of course), on the grounds that it was full of iron which was good for you, but most likely because it helped the mums-to-be to get off to sleep.

James



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