Fertilization of an egg is a complex biological process, which is preceded by numerous transformations in the female body. It is for this reason that pregnancy planning should be approached with all responsibility. Experts advise already a few months before the intended conception to start taking vitamin and mineral complexes, adjust the diet, and also get rid of bad habits. So, drinking alcohol can negatively affect both the health of the unborn child and the likelihood of fertilization itself.

General effect of alcohol on the body

There are many reasons for drinking alcohol. Someone drinks for company or out of interest, others try to relax or get rid of stress. Alcohol affects the entire body, it changes not only the course of many physiological processes, but also affects the psyche. So, many people become sociable, relaxed and liberated. Experts explain that in a state of intoxication, there is often a desire to enter into an intimate relationship.

The main difficulty is that drunk people are unlikely to worry about contraception. Such thoughtlessness of actions leads to irreversible consequences. If both partners are healthy and fertile, then the probability of successful fertilization remains, provided that the woman is in the phase of the menstrual cycle that is favorable for this.

In itself, conception is not a problem, but under the influence of alcohol, people often act spontaneously and thoughtlessly. The result is an unwanted pregnancy. However, even if the couple believes that there is nothing to worry about, this is not true.

Doctors are convinced that ethyl alcohol penetrates into every cell of the body, including gametes - the egg and sperm. Of course, this leaves an imprint on the future development of the fetus, if fertilization does take place. Many experts argue that the very likelihood of conception is reduced due to several reasons.

The effect of alcohol on the male body

Doctors agree that the probability of successful conception in a drunken state is much lower, since under the influence of alcohol the course of many processes in the male body changes. The key is to reduce sperm production. This has a direct impact on the possibility of fertilization of a mature egg.

In addition, there is a significant deterioration in the quality of sperm. If you collect biomaterial and conduct a laboratory study, you can find that the number of viable and active male germ cells decreases after drinking large doses of alcohol.
Those spermatozoa that remain fertile also undergo changes. They become less mobile. This means that the chance of reaching a mature egg in time decreases.

Many people wonder why the quality of sperm in men deteriorates significantly when drinking large doses of alcohol. Geneticists argue that in this way the mechanism of protection against the birth of children with pathologies is implemented. In fact, nature itself controls the processes of procreation, leaving the chances for the appearance of only healthy offspring.

Deterioration in sperm quality after drinking is taken to be associated with hormonal fluctuations. It is known that alcohol affects absolutely all organ systems, including the endocrine system. The pituitary gland begins to suffer first. This structure, located in the brain, controls the work of all the other glands scattered throughout the body. In particular, it is the pituitary hormones that are responsible for the normal functioning of the testicles in men.

If a person drinks too much alcohol, then the natural level of androgens, that is, male sex hormones, drops.

This leads to the fact that the sperm is formed in a smaller amount, and some of its cells simply die, not having time to fulfill their function. It turns out that even if all the conditions leading to conception are met, it does not always happen.

Beer is considered a particularly dangerous drink for men. Many appreciate it for its taste characteristics, but in addition to hops and malt, this drink contains analogues of female sex hormones - the so-called phytoestrogens. It is they, according to experts, that lead to disruption of the sex glands in men.

The effect of alcohol on the female body

The female reproductive system is no less complex than the male. The possibility of conception depends directly on the phase of the menstrual cycle. So, usually a favorable day for this comes 14 days after the start of menstruation. It is at this moment that the follicle bursts, and a mature egg comes out of the ovary.

For conception to be successful, this germ cell must be fertilized by a sperm cell. And they should meet on one of the sections of the fallopian tubes. Then the already fertilized egg forms a zygote, which descends into the uterine cavity and is fixed in its inner layer - the endometrium.

To say that drinking alcohol does not affect the female body and its ability to conceive is meaningless. Alcoholic drinks change the hormonal background so much that ovulation may not occur in a particular month. This means that the egg does not mature and is not released, so pregnancy will not occur even after unprotected intercourse.

As evidence of the processes described above, doctors cite the fact that women who abuse alcoholic beverages often experience disruptions in the menstrual cycle. They can manifest themselves in different ways, but most often observed:

cycle shortening;

cycle lengthening;

Smearing discharge outside the menstrual phase;

the appearance of blood clots during menstruation;

Decrease in the volume of menstrual flow;

complete absence of menstruation.

Any failure, including a variable number of days in each cycle, is a reason to contact a gynecologist.

There is a possibility that under the influence of alcohol a woman can completely lose her fertility. This means that she will not be able to get pregnant even after eliminating the addiction.

Gynecologists are convinced that it is best for a woman to abstain from alcohol if she is planning a pregnancy. And it's not just about the moment of conception. The egg begins to form long before this. The first changes begin with the arrival of menstruation and last about two weeks.
During this period, it is important to refrain from drinking any alcoholic beverages - both strong and low alcohol.

Most doctors unanimously argue that giving up alcohol for these 14 days is a necessary minimum for successful conception and bearing a child without pathologies, but it would be better if a woman stops drinking 3-4 months before the expected fertilization. This measure will help maintain strong immunity, which contributes to the course of pregnancy without pathologies and problems.

If during this period it is impossible to completely abandon alcohol, then it is required to minimize all the negative effects of ethyl alcohol. Experts give some tips that will help a woman quickly become pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby:

1. The amount of alcohol you drink should be minimal. If a celebration is planned, then one glass of wine will not cause significant harm, but you should not get carried away with a drink. It is better to replace it with fruit juice or berry juice. They also serve as excellent sources of vitamins.

2. It is important to drink and clean water. This will maintain an optimal fluid balance in the body. Such a measure is necessary, since alcohol, even in small quantities, can lead to serious dehydration.

3. After drinking alcohol, toxic substances inevitably accumulate in the body - products of the enzymatic oxidation of ethanol. Usually these are acetaldehyde and acetic acid, but ketone bodies can also appear. It is difficult to get rid of them, but to speed up the removal of toxic compounds, you can take specialized medicines - sorbents. They absorb both the toxic breakdown products of ethanol and the alcohol residues themselves from the digestive system. Traditionally, Smecta is considered the safest sorbent.

4. Alternative methods are also suitable for removing intoxication. One of the most popular products is green tea. This drink quickly removes poisons and improves well-being.

5. Do not forget that the main criterion for choosing a drink is its quality. There is nothing worse than being poisoned by uncertified alcohol.

It should be understood that none of the methods will help to completely remove ethyl alcohol from the body, which means that the best solution if you want to get pregnant is a complete rejection of alcohol.

The course of pregnancy after drunken conception

The probability of conceiving while intoxicated is much lower, but such an outcome of unprotected intercourse should not be ruled out. It is possible that the woman will be pregnant.

Fertilization of the egg under the influence of alcohol very often provokes difficulties with the further bearing of the fetus.

So, the habit of drinking alcohol regularly leads to a weakening of the female body. First of all, this is fraught with problems with the functioning of the immune system. Bacteria or viruses easily penetrate into the internal environment, which later provoke various diseases. During pregnancy, this is especially dangerous, since pathogenic microorganisms can get directly to the fetus and provoke malformations.

Difficulties arise at the stage of treatment. Many medicines are prohibited for pregnant women. In addition, the disease itself in a woman with initially weakened immunity is more severe.

A woman who drank alcohol before conception faces various difficulties during childbearing. So, there is a high probability of developing toxicosis. Moreover, if it usually passes with the end of the first trimester, then in this case, nausea and vomiting can accompany the pregnant woman until the birth itself.

Possible consequences for the child

Drunk conception is highly undesirable, experts warn. Doctors are convinced that alcohol can affect the processes of building DNA in developing cells. The zygote, which will give rise to a new organism, appears at the fusion of the egg and sperm. If one of the partners drank on the eve of sexual intercourse, then the risk of developing abnormalities in the unborn child increases.

According to statistics, one of the most likely pathologies is the cleft lip. This is followed by a defect called a wolf's mouth. In fact, these are changes that are of a visible aesthetic nature, but they also affect physiology. So, children with similar defects experience difficulties with food intake. The problem is usually corrected at an early age with surgery.

More serious problems are also possible. So, in rare cases, children are born with mental disabilities, including Down's disease. This is a chromosomal pathology, which can also be triggered by the influence of ethyl alcohol on the germ cells of the parents.

Experts reassure that chromosomal abnormalities are rare. In general, the risks are high if both parents drink alcohol for a long time. If conception occurred after a couple of glasses of champagne, then you should not panic.

To control the development of the embryo, doctors use various methods. So, at the 12th week of pregnancy, a woman must undergo a screening, which involves taking blood from a vein to determine the concentration of hCG hormone subunits in it, as well as an ultrasound procedure on an expert-level apparatus, where the doctor can measure all the necessary parameters as accurately as possible. Particular attention is paid to the collar space and nasal bones.

According to the results of the screening study, the doctor determines the maximum probability of having a child with chromosomal abnormalities. If the risks are low, despite drinking alcohol before conception, you can stop being nervous.

In this case, you need to direct all your efforts to the birth of a healthy child.

It will help in this compliance with all the recommendations of the doctor. A pregnant woman should regularly walk in the fresh air, eat right and maintain a sufficient level of physical activity. Bad habits must be eliminated. If a glass of weak alcohol before conception was appropriate, then after fertilization, ethyl alcohol in the woman's blood should not be.

According to most, conception and alcohol are incompatible. However, anonymous surveys show that every third pregnancy occurs when one of the partners is intoxicated (rarely both). Such statistics suggest that alcohol does not harm the unborn baby in any way. But why is it forbidden to drink alcohol during pregnancy? If you understand the process of fertilization from the very beginning, everything becomes clear.

The effect of alcohol on male reproductive function

Society has a negative attitude towards alcohol in early pregnancy. But it is generally accepted that there is no negative effect of alcohol on the conception of a child in men. Therefore, future fathers drink without fear when planning a pregnancy. But intoxication as a result of drinking ethanol (and even worse - drug use) significantly affects spermatozoa, changing their activity and quality.

At conception, two genetic sets merge - male and female. To think that only the expectant mother should prepare for pregnancy is irresponsible. Only one sperm is needed for this, but it must be the best.

A man should not drink before conception for the simple reason that alcohol equalizes the chances of healthy and strong cells with pathological ones. Approximately a quarter of spermatozoa in today's young people have various kinds of disorders. In the competition for an egg, the strongest, healthiest and fastest wins - this is what happens in people who lead a sober lifestyle. If the future dad misses a few drinks before conception, then alcohol and sperm will enter into an interrelation. Strong and healthy cells will be on a par with pathological ones. As a result, the chances of success for them will even out.

Men think that beer does not affect the conception of a child. In reality, this low-alcohol drink is a natural source of estrogen. Therefore, in the representatives of the stronger sex, who are addicted to it, the body changes its structure according to the female type. The influence of beer on the conception of a child in men is obvious: testosterone levels decrease in the body, hyperestrogenism is formed, sexual desire is suppressed and the quality of seminal fluid deteriorates.

If these arguments are not enough for patients, then doctors recommend that you verify everything yourself. The effect of alcohol on the spermogram can be checked as follows: take an analysis and evaluate the result, then refrain from alcohol for at least 3 months and repeat the procedure. Comparative characteristics will shock.

The impact of alcohol on women's health

Women have even worse prognosis. Ethanol affects ovulation. From the moment of birth, the girl has a certain amount. If a woman consumes alcohol during her life, then it destroys the genetic set of future gametes. Egg cells lose their quality, their shell is destroyed, breakage occurs. Even if the girl does not plan to become pregnant now, the negative effects of alcohol may appear in the future.

Alcohol and ovulation with subsequent conception are incompatible concepts. Regular consumption of alcohol (even if it is drinking beer 3-4 times a week) causes ovarian exhaustion. Influencing beer phytoestrogens cause hormone-dependent diseases - endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts. Stronger drinks affect the brain, heart and liver, disrupting blood circulation. Drunk conception causes detachments, hematomas, miscarriages and incomplete self-abortions.

Tracking the effect of alcohol on a woman's eggs, by analogy with examining the quality of male seminal fluid, is an unrealistic task. But in patients who abuse alcohol, menopause occurs earlier, tumors of benign and malignant origin are more often formed, and life expectancy is reduced.

How much not to drink before conception when planning a pregnancy

Couples planning a child are in doubt about how long they should not drink alcohol before conception. If we are talking about frequent consumption and large doses of alcohol, then it is desirable to exclude such situations completely, and not only in preparation for pregnancy. A healthy lifestyle when planning is half the way to the birth of children without congenital pathologies.

It is clear that most adults cannot completely get rid of alcohol. Holidays, birthdays, corporate parties - one way or another, alcohol is present and consumed. Therefore, it is important for a couple to observe a clear time range during which alcohol should not be consumed when planning a pregnancy. It is recommended that a man not drink before conception for at least 3-4 months. During this period, a complete cycle of spermatogenesis occurs. Only with the rejection of all bad habits can we assume that a man is ready to conceive.

A woman has the same terms - 3-4 months. It is important to completely eliminate alcohol with the onset of the menstrual cycle in which conception is planned. The maturation of the egg starts from the first days of menstruation and ends with ovulation after about 2-3 weeks.

As you can see, a man has to prepare more for planning a pregnancy than his partner. This once again proves that the responsibility lies not only with the woman.

Consequences of drunken conception

Drunk conception is dangerous with consequences that can occur directly during pregnancy or after the birth of the baby. Sometimes parents forget that alcohol was drunk on the day of fertilization, trying to find the causes of problems in another. However, beer can also affect the conception of a child, not to mention stronger drinks. Without finding an explanation for the problem, parents take the situation for granted. In fact, the conception in a state of intoxication is to blame.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (drunk conception syndrome) is accompanied by psychophysical disorders of varying intensity that can occur at different stages of a child's growth. If conception took place after alcohol, then it can lead to the following consequences:

• intrauterine growth retardation, characterized by insufficient body weight and small stature;
• pathological deviations in appearance (cleft lip, cleft palate, deep set auricles, eye socket defects;
• cardiovascular diseases, defects;
• liver dysfunction (alcohol during conception affects not only the hematopoietic organ of the parents);
• deformities (splicing of fingers together, short foot, deformed chest).

Every couple hopes that alcohol during conception will not affect the health of their unborn baby. Indeed, most parents have a lucky break. However, statistics show that 10 babies out of 1000 newborns face serious consequences of alcohol consumption by their parents at the time of conception.

There are many cases of unplanned pregnancy and alcohol intoxication. Under the influence of alcohol, responsibility and self-control are lost.

I drank alcohol without knowing I was pregnant

Alcohol in the first month of pregnancy can have an irreparable effect on the unborn child. There are many cases when a woman did not know about pregnancy and drank before the delay. How serious the consequences of carelessness will be depends not only on the quantity, but also on the quality of alcohol.

It is believed that alcohol in the first days after conception or in the first week after conception will not harm the embryo. During this period, the woman has not yet learned about the new position, since the fetal egg is moving towards its goal within 5-10 days after fertilization. If the expectant mother drank alcohol in the form of a glass of wine or a glass of beer, then nothing threatens her and her baby. The development of the child during this period does not yet depend on the woman, because the blood circulation between them has not yet been established.

If alcohol in the first week of pregnancy was consumed in large quantities and mostly strong, then a miscarriage or its threat is not excluded. As you know, ethanol penetrates into all biological fluids. During pregnancy and without it, alcohol is found in the pelvic organs. Large doses of strong drinks cause intoxication of the fetal egg, even if it has not yet been implanted. Therefore, expectant mothers should completely exclude alcohol during pregnancy.

Alcoholic drinks for IVF

In the in vitro fertilization protocol, it is not recommended to drink alcohol, including beer, wine, champagne. The body of a woman, under the influence of hormones, works hard to produce high-quality oocytes in sufficient quantities. In addition, the drugs used in the protocol (Gonal F, Puregon, Clomid, Menopur, Pregnyl and others) have a toxic effect on the liver. If you additionally take alcohol, then problems with this organ in the future cannot be avoided.

The concepts of IVF and alcohol are incompatible. Infertility requires a responsible approach to treatment. Theoretically, after the puncture of the follicles before the transfer of embryos, you can drink alcohol. During this period, the germ cells are outside the woman's body. However, no one can guarantee that alcohol will not affect the result of in vitro fertilization.

No one doubts that alcohol adversely affects women's health and leads to fetal pathology during pregnancy. Men's alcoholism is usually silent, although everyone also knows that alcohol has a negative impact on the reproductive functions of the stronger sex. Is it possible to establish the negative impact of alcohol on the conception of a child in men? Doctors are sure that future dads are responsible for the health of their offspring no less than a woman.

Spermatozoa mature in the male body for about three months. If during this period dad leans on alcohol, then Fr.

Unfortunately, many couples make love while intoxicated. It has been proven that ethanol reduces the activity of healthy spermatozoa, which means that there is an increased risk that a pathological “copy” will fertilize the egg. In the seminal fluid of a man, their number is about 25% of the total. But in the normal state, sperm with a damaged set of chromosomes have no chance of reaching the egg. That is why alcohol has a bad effect on conception, both at the planning stage and during intercourse.

What is the danger of alcohol for a man

Alcohol and conception are closely linked for many. For some reason, it so happened that a romantic evening must be accompanied by drinking alcohol. A harmless glass of wine can actually harm the health of both partners. Sex while intoxicated is fraught with undesirable consequences for future parents.

The negative effect of alcohol on eggs has been scientifically confirmed. Moreover, alcohol harms not only during the maturation of female germ cells. It turns out that ethanol is capable of destroying the structure of the entire reserve of eggs, which is given to every woman at birth. Alcohol affects the eggs in the following ways:

• destroys the shell;
• reduces the activity of oocytes;
• contributes to the early onset of menopause due to inhibition of the ovaries.

But that doesn't mean expectant fathers are allowed to drink more alcohol. If a man wants to have healthy children, you should refrain from drinking alcohol for at least 3-4 months.

If both partners drank alcohol before intercourse, then the risk of developing pathologies in the unborn child increases by 15-20%. Conception while intoxicated is not welcomed by doctors. In order for a child to be born healthy, it is worth thinking in advance about the quality of the genetic material.

Not only vodka or moonshine can harm men's health. Beer, which is considered by many men as a prank, has a detrimental effect on the body, reducing the activity of germ cells and making seminal fluid unsuitable for fertilization. Male infertility is often explained by the negative effect of alcohol - according to statistics, in almost half of cases, the impossibility of conception occurs due to the fact that one of the partners regularly or periodically drinks alcohol.

How alcohol affects the unborn child

It is not only alcohol that has been drunk in the recent past that negatively affects conception in women - if the expectant mother actively drank alcohol in her youth, then even becoming a teetotaler, she runs the risk of giving birth to a child with pathologies. The same can be said about the future father. The consequences of alcoholism in the past are irreversible. It seems to a man that he is completely healthy, but it is impossible to conceive. Or his wife becomes pregnant, but there is a threat of miscarriage - this is how the female body gets rid of a defective embryo, but modern medicine does everything possible to save the pregnancy.

A child born to drinking or previously drinking parents is never healthy. Even if there are no external signs of violations, he has a high tendency to diseases of various kinds.

To understand how alcohol affects conception and the development of the embryo, it is enough to turn to medical statistics. If a man drinks regularly, he has problems with potency. Conception after alcohol often becomes impossible or there are problems with carrying a pregnancy. Consequences of immoderation of parents in alcohol are reflected in the health of the fetus. So, children born to alcoholic parents have the following problems:

• violation of thermoregulation and low birth weight;
• pathologies of appearance: thin upper lip, narrow palpebral fissure, smoothed philtrum, deep location of the auricles;
• congenital pathologies of the cardiovascular system, heart disease;
• liver fibrosis;
• characteristic deformities: abnormal location or fusion of fingers, deformity of the chest, shortened feet, etc.

Some men think that it is enough to abstain from alcohol for a few days, and the body will recover. But it takes at least 3 months to update the seminal fluid. And if a man fell into alcoholic oblivion regularly for several years, then irreversible processes occur. The quality of the seminal fluid decreases, the activity of spermatozoa drops by 20%. If a man wants healthy offspring, he should not drink at all.

Alcohol and conception in men are incompatible concepts. Every person who wants to have children should think about their health. And you need to do this at the planning stage. Everyone understands how alcohol affects parents and the unborn child, but not everyone is deterred from drinking alcohol. If dependence is evident, then drugs for the formation of alcohol resistance cannot be dispensed with. Fortunately, their choice on the Internet is now huge.

Almost every alcoholic drink also contains flavor enhancers, preservatives and flavors, which can also adversely affect the male body. Therefore, future fathers are advised to pay attention to their own health.

If a man abstains from alcohol for a long time and thinks that alcohol during conception will no longer cause harm, then he is greatly mistaken. On the day of conception, it should also not be taken on the chest. The baby should not be born in a drunken stupor, but in love and tenderness - the psychological atmosphere is no less important for the future baby.

A man who is ready not to drink alcohol at conception understands all the responsibility to the future heir. But many dads do not refuse to take alcohol after conception. In this sense, men are a little more fortunate than women - if conception has occurred, there is no need to abstain from alcohol anymore. But if the future dad wants to actively participate in the life of his child, and plans to become a father again in the future, then you should take your health more seriously.

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There is an opinion among the people that there will be no harm from a glass of wine or a glass of cognac. Often this glass of wine becomes daily. And in this, the spouses also do not see anything wrong, in fact, alcohol has a cumulative effect. Often it manifests itself precisely when a man and a woman think about offspring. Alcohol has a different effect on the female and male body, but the result is quite often deplorable.

alcohol and man

Spermatozoa are rather fragile and delicate cells. Anything can affect the quality of sperm - a man's illness, fatigue, the state of stress in which he is. Alcohol, or rather the ethyl alcohol that it contains, reduces the mobility of the sex cells of a man, lowering his fertility (the ability to fertilize).

It used to be that a couple of glasses does not affect the quality of sperm, because they are produced long before a man takes a dose of alcohol. Now doctors completely refute this information, because The breakdown products of alcohol penetrate the seminal fluid within an hour after drinking alcohol. Destructive processes begin to occur in it, alcohol destroys and “cripples” healthy germ cells. A spermatozoon devoid of a tail or head is not capable of conception.

With prolonged and systematic alcohol intake, spermatozoa are already produced by unhealthy ones, not only their morphology changes, but also genetics. If such a genetically modified sperm still fertilizes the egg, then the risk of having a sick child will be very high.

Previously, when medicine was not at such a high level, natural selection often “worked”. Sick and defective fetuses that appeared as a result of drunken conception were rejected by the female body itself, a miscarriage occurred. Now doctors are trying to keep the pregnancy at any cost, so more and more children are born with severe pathologies, defects, chromosomal abnormalities.

The systematic use of alcoholic beverages negatively affects potency, and the more and longer a man drinks, the worse things are with his libido and the opportunity to have a full-fledged sexual intercourse. New spermatozoa mature for a long time - about 3 months.

Alcoholic beverages and women's health

Every girl is born with a large "strategic" supply of eggs in her ovaries. During puberty, the eggs begin to leave the follicles once a month, ovulation occurs, and the menstrual cycle is established. Alcohol can disrupt this process, causing an increase in the number of anovulatory cycles, that is, cycles in which ovulation does not occur at all.

Ovulation Calculator

Cycle duration

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Enter the first day of your last menstrual period

Ovulation occurs 14 days before the start of the menstrual cycle (with a 28-day cycle - on the 14th day). Deviation from the mean value is frequent, so the calculation is approximate.

Also, along with the calendar method, you can measure basal temperature, examine cervical mucus, use special tests or mini-microscopes, take tests for FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone.

You can definitely set the day of ovulation through folliculometry (ultrasound).

Sources:

1. Losos, Jonathan B.; Raven, Peter H.; Johnson, George B.; Singer, Susan R. Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 1207-1209.
2. Campbell N. A., Reece J. B., Urry L. A. e. a. Biology. 9th ed. - Benjamin Cummings, 2011. - p. 1263
3. Tkachenko B. I., Brin V. B., Zakharov Yu. M., Nedospasov V. O., Pyatin V. F. Human Physiology. Compendium / Ed. B. I. TKACHENKO. - M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2009. - 496 p.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovulation

The morphology and structure of the egg, as well as the spermatozoa, can change under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol has a destructive effect not only on the dominant follicle in which the egg matures, and its release will occur in this cycle, but also on the entire supply of eggs in the ovaries. Thus, the chances of conceiving a healthy child in a drinking woman are minimal even if she stopped drinking a few months ago.

The ovaries themselves, with periodic libations of their "mistress", begin to age rapidly, their functions fade away, the woman becomes infertile. But here, many may wonder why, then, women who drink, suffering from obvious alcoholism, regularly become pregnant and give birth, and they get it faster than a couple of teetotalers planning their baby.

The answer to this question is rather unexpected. The ovaries of a woman, until the functions of the ovaries have died down to the end, have the ability to “mobilize” in extreme situations, because their main task is to continue the race. They begin to carry out this program with redoubled strength, no longer being healthy and full-fledged, so there is no need to talk about a healthy conception.

Conception while intoxicated

If both partners are in a state of intoxication at the time of conception, but they are not chronic drinkers, there is a chance that the conception will be successful and the child will be healthy, but it is not great.

What risks a man and a woman who decide to drink alcohol before sex is not difficult to guess. At stake is the health of their heir. For a man, the state of intoxication at the time of conception is more critical than for a woman, because alcohol penetrates into the seminal fluid, modifying his sex cells. The woman's ovum matured earlier. If a woman did not take alcohol during the follicular phase of the cycle, then a small amount of it at the time of conception will not have time to affect the egg itself, but it can affect the processes of its division and movement through the fallopian tube after the meeting of the egg with the sperm has taken place.

That is why often "drunk" sex ends with an ectopic pregnancy, early miscarriage, detachment of the fetal egg. Any interference in the subtle processes of division of a fertilized egg, including at the chemical level, can lead to violations of these processes, loss of pregnancy.

Drinking alcohol after conception

From the moment of conception to the moment of delay in menstruation, which serve as a signal for a woman to take a pregnancy test, at least 2 weeks pass. Sometimes a lady is completely unaware that the conception has taken place, and during these two weeks she leads a free lifestyle, in which there is a place for alcohol. After the “striped” test, which shows the true reason for the delay in menstruation, a woman involuntarily raises the question of how the alcohol she took before the delay in menstruation can affect the unborn child and whether it is worth keeping such a pregnancy.

Everything that enters the mother's body from the first hours after conception, to one degree or another, goes to the unborn baby. If we are not talking about chronic alcoholism and large doses of strong alcohol, the female body can partially compensate the child for the inconvenience. Therefore, it is not worth having an abortion just because the woman had taken several glasses of wine before the delay. With a high degree of probability, the healthy and young body of the future mother neutralized the harmful effects as much as possible.

It is important to avoid alcohol in the future, because the baby is undergoing an important and responsible process - this is the formation of all organs and systems, alcohol can make its own "adjustments", then malformations of internal organs, the brain, and the spinal cord are not excluded.

Drinking alcohol at the beginning of pregnancy increases the risk that the period of bearing a baby will be accompanied by severe toxicosis.

The immunity of a woman who was not averse to drinking alcohol before conception is reduced compared to the immunity of a non-drinking woman. This creates an additional danger when carrying a baby, because such a woman is more vulnerable to the viruses and bacteria that surround her.

Consequences of "drunken conception" for a child

There is no doubt that alcohol before conception and during conception affects the child. But for some reason, not all couples think about it. Most likely, the reason for such carelessness lies in the lack of specific information about what the consequences might be. We are used to the fact that we are simply told that alcohol is harmful, without explaining exactly how drinking can affect offspring. Alcohol, which affects the reproductive cells of women and men at the time of conception, can lead to disruption in the construction of DNA chains in the crushing cells of the zygote. The laying of organs and systems may initially go the wrong way.

There are some of the most common consequences of "drunken conception".

"Cleft Lip" and "Wolf Mouth"

The cleft lip is a facial defect associated with the cleft of the upper lip, the formation of an ugly cleft. This creates difficulties with feeding the baby, later such a cleft interferes with the development of speech. Most often, boys are born with this defect. A cleft is formed before the 8th week of pregnancy.

The pathology is based on a mutation of the TBX22 gene, which becomes possible not only with radiation exposure, but also with the systematic intake of alcohol by two spouses or one of the spouses, even in small quantities. Unfortunately, such a defect in a child can be detected only in late pregnancy during ultrasound. Usually at such times (after 32 weeks), pregnancy is no longer interrupted.

The cleft palate is a pathology associated with the formation of a cleft of the soft and hard palate, non-closure, as a result of which the nasal cavity is not isolated from the oral cavity. This also creates tangible problems with the feeding of the child, with the development of his speech functions. This pathology most often appears through the fault of the mother, since it is caused by alcohol and other teratogenic effects on the TBX22 gene on the X chromosome.

In both cases, the baby is waiting for an operation, and possibly a whole series of operations designed to eliminate the defect, and then a long rehabilitation period. The cleft palate is more common and more difficult to treat. It happens that a child under 2–3 years old has to undergo up to 7 surgical interventions.

fetal alcohol syndrome

Under this concept lies a large list of combinations of mental and physical defects and anomalies that develop in the fetus due to the fact that his mother drank alcohol before conception or after it. Most often, the central nervous system suffers, a child is born with mental retardation, intellectual and behavioral disorders, as well as anomalies in the structure of brain regions.

Almost all children conceived in a drunken "stupor" are born with a lack of body weight and small stature. A frequent manifestation of fetal alcohol syndrome of the fetus is congenital malformations of the heart and organs of the reproductive system. The severity of the lesions depends on how much, how long and how often the mother and father drink alcohol. All children with this syndrome are characterized by certain external features:

• eyes look shorter and narrower;
• the nose of the baby is flattened and wide;
• the philtrum (vertical folds between the upper lip and nose) is almost absent;
• the upper sponge is thinner;
• Mongoloid fold of the eyelids in the region of the lacrimal canal;
• a certain degree of microcephaly (a decrease in the size of the skull and brain mass).

Usually children with alcohol syndrome are seen immediately after birth. All anomalies caused by alcohol are considered lifelong, they do not disappear with age. Signs of fetal alcohol syndrome are not always visible externally.

If a woman uses infrequently and a little, but still systematically, if a non-drinking woman decides to conceive from a heavily drinking man, then the processes characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome in a child will be hidden, but they will definitely appear.

Other consequences

Excessive alcohol consumption by mother, father or both spouses before conception, at the time of conception, in the first two weeks after conception, and also during pregnancy, often manifests itself in a child who looks completely healthy at birth, later.

These disorders include hearing and visual impairments, which parents begin to learn about a few weeks or months after the baby is born. They have a reduced ability to learn, even elementary things to teach such a baby is much more difficult. They have significant problems with memory and concentration.

Behavioral problems in children born from a "drunk conception" begin to appear not only in adolescence, but earlier. Often they require training in special correctional schools. Such children are physically unable to control all their emotions, they have little idea of ​​the consequences of their ugly or illegal actions.

Some statistics

Often future parents think that the described consequences can affect anyone, but not their families. This is not so, because the inexorable statistics indicate that out of 1000 newborns in Russia, 10 babies have signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. If one child with such a syndrome grows up in a family, then, according to statistics, the second child with 80% probability will also suffer from one degree or another of fetal alcohol disease.

A woman who drinks several times a week has a 45% chance of having a sick baby. If she continues to drink during pregnancy, this probability is doubled. Russian studies have shown that 13% of babies who are in orphanages or children's homes have clear signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, and 45% of children have signs of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (symptoms are mild, but they are present).

90% of these children are at risk of developing sudden alcoholism during adolescence. In women who drank moderately during pregnancy, such risks are no less. The child will be prone to alcoholism at the genetic level.

To prevent such a future, it is worth taking care of the health of the baby now, when he has not yet been conceived.

Sperm and egg

Incompatibility

Alcohol

Pregnancy planning implies a conscious desire for healthy offspring. Not all parents are often ready for such careful planning. Most are sure that, without external manifestations of any pathology, they can afford to deviate from the recommendations, and in their case, drunken conception will not affect the course of pregnancy in any way.

Most people are not inclined to consider wine a toxic product. And some women even correct the indicators of red blood with wine, referring to the need to “strengthen” the body before conceiving a child. Despite the fact that from time immemorial it was forbidden to drink alcohol to a couple planning children, today very often alcohol and conception go hand in hand.

When planning a pregnancy, there are always more requirements for a woman than for a potential father. On the one hand, this is physiologically justified, on the other hand, the role of the father in the formation of heredity is underestimated.

Nature is determined by the laying of a strictly defined number of eggs in the ovaries in women. The maximum number of possible damage to the genetic apparatus of the egg falls on the period of female puberty, when the egg, maturing, performs a series of cell divisions.

But, remembering the actively dividing egg preparing for fertilization, one should not forget about the “sleeping” germ cells. With a high intensity of the damaging factor, their genetic apparatus also suffers, and then the initially “sick” egg cell will come up for division.

No one can calculate the percentage of the probability of such an event, but the fact of the possibility takes place. That is why alcohol before pregnancy is universally prohibited.

But if the effect of alcohol on the fetus will occur throughout the pregnancy, then the birth of a child with obvious deviations is almost guaranteed. One of the most common abnormalities in the development of a child is fetal alcohol syndrome. This syndrome has characteristic morphological manifestations, accompanied by a high probability of withdrawal syndrome in a child already at birth.

The withdrawal syndrome speaks of the already formed chronic alcoholism of the infant. Based on the above, it becomes clear why a woman who abuses alcohol risks giving rise to the genetic transformation of her children, more than a man.

The effect of alcohol on the male body when planning pregnancy

The physiological characteristics of men forced them to treat their bad habits more loyally. It has been proven that the entire set of spermatozoa is renewed within 3 months. Therefore, it is believed that for a man, approaching the conception of a child while intoxicated is not critical.

But one thing is missing in this question. The entire set of endlessly renewing spermatozoa comes from one maternal spermatogonia, which is laid down in boys even in the prenatal period of life and is activated only from the moment of puberty.

Therefore, pregnancy planning and alcohol are incompatible concepts for both sexes and parents are jointly responsible for the birth of a healthy child. Someone has enough internal resources of the body, and a drunken lifestyle does not affect either fertilization or pregnancy, and the child is born without obvious defects. And for someone, a single use of alcohol before conception is enough so that the long-awaited event does not happen.

In addition to the fact that alcoholic beverages themselves are a cellular toxin, one should not forget that they also contain other substances that are far from indifferent, both for the body as a whole and for the reproductive system, in particular.

If the negative effect of alcohol on pregnancy has a confirming fact in the form of the birth of unhealthy children, then how alcohol affects conception is discussed only at the level of theory. Because, theoretically, alcohol should:

1. Paralyze flagella in spermatozoa;
2. Change the pH of the vaginal environment;
3. Paralyze an erection;
4. Cause hormonal stress in a woman with fluctuations in basal body temperature, leading to disruption of homeostasis necessary for conception.

All this together should not lead to conception. But, as practice shows, maternity hospitals are overflowing with women in labor with the moment of conception falling on certain public holidays (New Year, Christmas holidays, May holidays).

Thus, the negative effect of alcohol on the conception of a child is manifested not in the very possibility of conception, but in the consequences during pregnancy, birth and development of the child. At the moment when a woman finds out about her pregnancy, which arose in a state of intoxication, it is important not to panic.

According to statistics, alcohol during conception, not systematically consumed, does not lead to the birth of an unambiguously unhealthy child, but only increases the likelihood of developing pathologies in him. Moreover, the dependence of the development of pathology specifically on the moment of drunken conception is almost impossible to establish. The cause of congenital malformations of intrauterine development may be other factors.

The negative effect of alcohol on conception in men is more often caused not so much by the alcoholic beverages themselves, but by their drunk quantity and quality of the product. The main problem in conceiving a child in conditions of intoxication can be erectile dysfunction. And if alcohol before conception in reasonable quantities is able to add sexual activity, then a certain quantitative limit of drinking alcohol will lead to the opposite result.

It often happens that a long-awaited pregnancy does not occur, despite taking into account all the predisposing factors and the exclusion of possible negative influences.

How alcohol affects the process of conception

And after a certain time, the woman finds out that she became pregnant precisely at the time when she drank alcohol. Against the backdrop of a long-awaited pregnancy, the question arises of its termination, since there was a conception in alcoholic intoxication. In this case, to make the right decision, several physiological and biochemical facts will come in handy:

1. Alcohol is a cellular poison, having embryo- and fetotoxic effects.
2. Alcohol penetrates into all liquid media of the body and into the cell.
3. Reduces the motor activity of sperm, both carrying a healthy set of chromosomes, and with a damaged gene pool.
4. Changes the hormonal background, preventing the normal course of pregnancy.

However, not all factors of the action of alcohol can lead to negative consequences:

1. Alcohol taken in reasonable amounts is neutralized by the enzyme system of the liver.
2. After a single dose, alcohol is completely eliminated from the body for three days.
3. A mature spermatozoon and a mature egg are completely autonomous systems during their short period of life. The sperm is ready for conception within 72 hours, the egg - during the day. Therefore, drinking alcohol in the first days after conception is unlikely to affect the development of the fetus.
4. The zygote formed after fertilization during the first weeks is also a self-sustaining system.
5. From the 7th to the 10th day after fertilization, the developing embryo sinks into the surface layer of the uterine mucosa and does not yet have contact with maternal blood.
6. By the 14th day, the primary placenta is formed, providing the first close contact of the embryo with the mother's body.
7. Any severe external or internal factor that affects the correct formation of a sperm or egg that has entered into fertilization leads to spontaneous abortion in the early stages, up to 8-12 weeks of gestation.
8. To date, all antenatal clinics are equipped with screening programs for the detection of congenital pathology.

The likelihood of harm to the fetus from alcohol in the first weeks after conception will depend on which week of pregnancy the alcoholic drink was taken, how much and how often it was taken.

And only after a scrupulous weighing of all factors, one should think that alcohol at conception fatally dooms pregnancy to its termination.

How much should a man and woman not drink before conception

In cases where pregnancy planning coincides with a series of drinking events, you should know how important it is for a married couple not to drink before conception.

For the birth of offspring without signs of alcohol damage, both a man and a woman, until the moment of conception, should not take alcohol for at least 3 days, but the recommended period is 3 months.

For a woman to maintain her own peace of mind throughout all 9 months, before pregnancy, it is enough not to touch alcohol-containing drinks for a month - the period of maturation of the egg.

How much a man should not drink before conception, so that the negative consequences do not manifest themselves in any way, determines the time for the complete renewal of mature spermatozoa, it is 3 months.