怀孕与葡萄酒

Wine & Pregnancy

At the Millesime Bio fair held last January in Montpellier, the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, close to 800 producers from all over the world were showing their organic and biodynamic wines. On either the front or back label of the French wines, adjacent to the printed alcohol content, was a sign the size of a thumb tack. Inside the universal symbol for ‘don’t do this’- a circle with a diagonal line through it - is the profile of an obviously pregnant woman raising a glass of wine to her lips. 

在去年于朗格多克-鲁西永大区的省会Montpellier市举办的Millesime Bio有机葡萄酒展上，来自世界各地的近800名生产者展示了他们的有机和生物动力法葡萄酒。在法国酒的正标或背标，邻近酒精度的地方是一个图标，图标标识为一斜线横穿一个圆圈，一个明显怀孕的孕妇正举着一杯葡萄酒往唇边靠拢，那是全球通用的“不要做这事”的标识。

One would have thought that this image would be clear and unambiguous: if you’re pregnant, don’t drink wine; but there have been so many misinterpretations of the symbol that the federal agency regulating the sale of beverage alcohol in the United States has dropped it (although a printed warning against drinking while pregnant is still a mandatory requirement on US bottles).  This symbol, however, is still required on bottles of French wine.

有些人会认为这个图标清晰明了，而有些人则认为它含糊不清：如果你怀孕了，就别喝酒；但这个图标有这么多误解，以致于美国管理酒精饮料销售的联邦政府机构弃用它（虽然怀孕了就不该喝酒的警告仍然强制印在美国葡萄酒的酒瓶上）。然而这图标却仍然要求被印在法国葡萄酒上。

The problem as the US regulators saw it was that some women took the symbol to mean that wine is a contraceptive and if you drink wine you won’t get pregnant. Some thought the opposite: if you drink wine it will help to get you pregnant.

美国管理人员认为问题在于，有些妇女认为那个图标是避孕的意思，如果你喝了葡萄酒，就不会怀孕。有些则相反：如果你喝了葡萄酒，它会帮你怀孕。

The whole debate around wine (and alcohol in general) for pregnant women is fraught with difficulty. There is no question that a mother’s heavy drinking can be detrimental to her unborn child, likely to result in fetal alcohol syndrome that damages the baby’s central nervous system; but there is a growing body of literature that suggests light drinking can actually be beneficial.

围绕着孕妇喝葡萄酒（总的来说，是酒精饮料）的争论是困难重重的。毫无疑问，孕妇酗酒肯定会对未出生的婴儿不利，会导致损害婴儿中枢神经系统的胎儿酒精综合症。但却有越来越多的文献资料表明，适量饮酒有益健康。

Talking from personal experience, the mother of my two children drank wine in moderation throughout her pregnancies and both kids turned out just fine.

从个人经验来讲，我妻子生了两个孩子，她在怀孕期间适量饮酒，两个孩子结果也健康出生。

A research study at the University of Copenhagen studied 63,000 Danish women and published their findings in November last year. The women were interviewed three times about their alcohol consumption, twice during their pregnancy and a third time when their child reached the age of six months. When their children turned seven, some 40 per cent of the women were interviewed again.

丹麦哥本哈根大学（University of Copenhagen）做了一项调查研究，调查了63,000名丹麦孕妇并于去年11月发表了他们的发现。他们对于葡萄酒饮用量的问题三次采访这些孕妇，分别是在她们怀孕期间两次，当他们的孩子六个月时又一次。此后，在她们孩子七岁时，百分之四十左右又被采访一次。
The researchers found that that women who drank ‘a small amount of alcohol’ during pregnancy tended to be healthier than those who abstained altogether. The ‘drinkers’ watched less television, ate more fish and were more likely to exercise. As a result they exhibited a normal body mass index compared to the non-drinkers who were more likely to resort to pop and sodas for their liquid refreshment. In that same Danish study it was found that women who drank a glass of wine a week during their pregnancy gave birth to children who were better adjusted both emotionally and in their behaviour patterns than those who abstained.

研究显示，怀孕期间喝少量葡萄酒的孕妇比那些完全戒酒的孕妇要健康。喝葡萄酒的孕妇看少点电视，吃多些鱼，更爱运动。因此相比于滴酒不沾的孕妇，她们表现出更正常的体重指数。而那些没喝葡萄酒的孕妇倾向于听流行音乐、喝苏打水来作为恢复精神的饮料。在同样一份研究报告里，怀孕期间一个星期喝一杯葡萄酒的孕妇生出的婴儿无论是在感情上还是在行为方式上都比那些滴酒不沾的孕妇生出的婴儿要好。
The question, of course, is: what constitutes ‘light drinking’ for a pregnant woman? The Department of Health in Britain has pegged it at one drink a few times a week.

当然，问题在于，对于孕妇来说，什么才是“适量饮酒”？英国健康部门认为是一个星期几次，每次一点。

In another recent study, a joint team of researchers from Ireland, England, New Zealand and Australia compared the results of 5,628 women who gave birth for the first time between 2004 and 2011. The findings showed, according to ‘Obstetrics & Gynecology’, the official publication of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, that ‘drinking small amounts of alcohol during and even beyond the first trimester of pregnancy didn't seem to raise the risks of premature delivery, low birth weight, or high blood pressure for the mother.’

在另一份近期调查研究当中，由来自爱尔兰、英格兰、新西兰和澳大利亚的研究人员组成的队伍比较了2004年至2011年首次生育的5,628名妇女。根据美国产科与妇科学院（College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists）的官方出版物《美国产科与妇科学杂志》（Obstetricians and Gynecologists），结果显示在怀孕期间甚至第一个妊娠三月期适量喝点葡萄酒并不会提高早产、低出生体重或导致妈妈高血压的风险。
The experts are still divided over the issue and it is simpler for doctors to tell their pregnant patients to refrain from drinking alcohol in any form. Which is a pity because this admonition denies women the pleasure of a relaxing glass of wine – at a time when they would probably most appreciate it.

专家仍然为这分歧而议论纷纷，对医生来讲，告诉他们的孕妇病人禁止饮用任何形式的酒精饮料也是很容易的事。只可惜这种告诫断绝了孕妇饮用一杯让人轻松的葡萄酒所带来的愉悦——那种愉快很有可能是她们处于那阶段最需要的。

(Aldo, for the image see: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-24/examples-of-the-warning-messages-planned-for-winejpg/4277432)