How much should I not drink before conceiving a child. The harmful effects of alcohol on the reproductive system of the stronger sex

How much should a man not drink before conception. This question is asked by many couples before they conceive a child.

The opinion of doctors that ethanol is harmful to the strong half of humanity, and the unborn child. How alcohol affects conception, how long you need to refrain from it - today we will tell.

The influence of alcohol

Everyone has long known about the dangers of alcoholic beverages on reproductive function. A man needs three months to cleanse the body of ethanol and renew spermatozoa. This applies to those who do not abuse alcohol, lead a healthy lifestyle, and have a good semen analysis.

Men who often consume strong foods, beer should find a time when they will not drink and smoke. This period can last 8-12 months, depending on the state of health.

1. Pass the analysis of the quality of seminal fluid. Exclude the presence of pathogenic spermatozoa, undergo the necessary treatment.
2. Lead an active lifestyle, play sports. This will help improve metabolic processes, cell renewal.
3. Eat right, increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in the diet.
4. Drink a course of vitamins with zinc to improve the reproductive system, improve the body as a whole.
5. For the entire period of preparation for conception, do not drink any alcoholic beverages!

sexual function

How much should I not drink before conception? First you need to figure out what effect alcohol has on livestock. The prostate gland and testicles are responsible for the production of ejaculate in the male body. The latter produce spermatozoa, the prostate produces fluid and a nutrient medium.

To conceive you need:

• So that the gametes are viable, mobile, of the correct shape.
• Prostatic juice has a certain concentration and environment.
• This is driven by hormones. The entire reproductive system quickly responds to the negative processes of the body.

The effect of alcohol on metabolism:

• Alcohol disrupts its work, leads to improper formation of male gametes, seminal fluid. Spermatozoa mature in the testicles for two months. Retain the ability to fertilize only 3-5 days, then die.
• Ethanol, nicotine, sudden changes in temperature can cause a deterioration in the quality of seminal fluid.
• Healthy livestock die from the action of strong drinks, pathogenic ones persist. There is a possibility of conception from a diseased cell.
• Alcohol affects the hormonal background, testosterone production decreases, this affects the quality of sperm.

How much time not to drink is determined by the doctor on the basis of tests, but everyone must solve this problem for himself. Your child's future will depend on lifestyle.

Alcohol is very toxic, but a healthy person is able to cope with small doses, while alcohol can cause irreparable harm to an embryo. The fact is that the placenta does not prevent the penetration of harmful substances in the drink to the baby, as a result, he is exposed to poison, may lag behind in development, and large doses of alcohol can lead to deformities and defects.

Moreover, alcohol affects health even before it has been conceived. After all, the germ cells that make up the future are formed some time before - so, spermatozoa mature in the body for about 70 days, and the egg cell takes a month to mature. The state of human health, including the content of ethanol in the blood, affects this process and can lead to the formation of weaker, defective germ cells with genetic abnormalities.

In addition, alcohol reduces the production of male hormones, including testosterone, in the body of a man, as a result, spermatozoa become less viable, and the likelihood of conception decreases.

How long to abstain from alcohol before conception?

Doctors advise men to wait at least 70 days so that the spermatozoa formed at the time of conception are not exposed to alcohol. For frequent drinkers, this is a very important rule, since they have a high risk of having offspring with deviations, and if a person drinks from time to time, then in 99% of cases a few glasses of beer or glasses of wine in these 70 days will not lead to sad consequences. For a man leading a healthy lifestyle, who takes alcohol very rarely, it is not necessary to keep a strict count of days and it is enough just to make sure that alcohol does not get into the blood for several days.

These are the minimum periods during which you need to give up alcohol, the longer such a period, the better, not only for conception, but simply for your own health.

Doctors recommend that women give up alcohol for a maximum, and at least a month before conception, although there are opinions that before alcohol does not have any effect on the health of the unborn child, unless, of course, the woman is not. In the same alcohol is completely contraindicated, it is very undesirable to use it even in small doses.

Vitamins are a group of organic compounds that are essential for human nutrition. The use of vitamins before conception will help to avoid most complications directly during pregnancy. You just need to know which vitamin complexes are suitable for planning a baby.

As a rule, a married couple, who approaches planning with full responsibility, without fail pays special attention to fortification. Experts advise taking vitamins not only for a woman, but also a few months before the intended conception. For the beautiful half of humanity, this is necessary so that all the necessary trace elements are already contained in the body, since the laying of the organs of the embryo occurs in life. And the strong half should take a vitamin complex to improve the quality of sperm. It is worth noting that before using specific vitamins, you must first consult with a gynecologist. It is the doctor of this category who will help determine which vitamins should be taken by a particular couple.

Vitamins when planning pregnancy

What does vitamin deficiency lead to?

Tip 3: How long before conception should you stop taking birth control pills

The most common method of contraception today is the birth control pill. Modern women use them to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But there comes a time when a potential mother begins to think about replenishment in the family. It seems that for this you just need to stop taking hormonal contraceptives. However, doctors advise to approach this step with great responsibility.

The time interval after the abolition of hormonal contraceptives and before the onset of pregnancy

Most doctors and specialists believe that after stopping the pill, pregnancy can only occur after three months. In fact, this is not entirely true. There are several reasons for this.

One of the most important factors here is oral contraceptives. If a woman takes pills for several years in a row, then her body can simply wean itself from producing its own hormones - estrogen and progesterone. Until the development process is debugged and ovulation is finally restored, a significant time may pass: from several months to several years. The rate of this process can be calculated using a simple formula: three months of recovery for every year of birth control pills. If oral contraceptives were taken for less than six months, then after their cancellation, an absolutely reverse process can occur. The eggs may begin to behave like "starved". In medicine, the phenomenon is called “cancellation pregnancy” or “rebound effect”. This means that conception can occur even the day after. In medical practice, there were even cases when, in the treatment of infertility, doctors prescribed hormonal contraceptives to artificially create the above effect.

Individual calculation

It should be remembered that each organism is individual. Therefore, even after five years of taking pills, conception can occur in a couple of weeks. However, almost all gynecologists and endocrinologists agree that after the abolition of pills, pregnancy can occur after an average of three months. It is these terms that must be considered when planning a pregnancy. Age must also be taken into account. If a woman is over 22-23 years old, then it may take more than a year to restore ovulation. If over 30 years old were taken for more than a year, then after the abolition of contraceptives, conception may take two years. Such uncertainty of timing is also due to the fact that the tablets have a wide spectrum of action and can be the cause of exacerbation of gynecological diseases. Therefore, it is logical that additional time may be required to restore reproductive functions.

Men and women who are thinking about adding to the family should be aware that a responsible approach to pregnancy planning involves some restrictions, including avoiding alcohol. Let's find out how much a man and a woman should not drink before conception and why.

How much should a man not drink before conception

Men drink alcohol more often and in larger quantities compared to women, so the effect of alcohol on the male body is more pronounced. Under the influence of alcohol (more specifically, ethanol) in the body of a man, the number of spermatozoa in the sperm decreases and their activity slows down, that is, the ability to fertilize an egg decreases. The chromosome, which is the carrier of DNA, is also damaged.

If non-drinking men have up to 30% of defective spermatozoa, then in drinking men their number is already 50%, which increases the likelihood that the egg will be fertilized by defective spermatozoa. This can lead to miscarriage or birth defects in the baby.

It is important to note that we are not necessarily talking about the systematic use of alcohol - even a single use of it can lead to negative consequences.

Can I drink beer before conceiving a child? Despite the seeming harmlessness, beer is very dangerous for future fathers. It contains phytoestrogens that inhibit the natural production of testosterone, reduce male fertility and adversely affect potency. At the same time, even the use of non-alcoholic beer is undesirable, since it also contains phytoestrogens, albeit in smaller quantities.

If a man drank alcohol before conception, this can lead to the following consequences:

• Inability to conceive due to male erectile dysfunction.
• miscarriage or prematurity.
• Malformations (dementia, malnutrition, behavioral abnormalities, mental or physical developmental delays, hyperactivity, sleep disturbances, fatigue, excessive excitability of the autonomic system).

The consequences of alcohol intake by parents can manifest themselves in adolescence. These consequences may be:

• Faster fatigue than peers.
• Headache.
• Depressed state.
• Emotional instability, low self-esteem.
• Sleep disorders.

The term of spermatogenesis in men is 72 days. This is the minimum period that a man should not drink before conception. But since conception often does not occur the first time, it is advisable to refrain from a bad habit for at least three months, so that as many healthy and morphologically correct spermatozoa as possible can be developed. If the intake of alcohol was of a sufficiently long nature, then the man should not drink for six months.

Despite the fact that it is quite difficult for men psychologically to give up the use of alcoholic beverages, with a responsible approach to their future and the future of their child, such a period can be endured.

Thus, preparation for conception for a man implies a complete rejection of the use of alcoholic beverages, regardless of whether they are strong or low-alcohol drinks. We add that this rule must be observed by men with any state of health.

If a man nevertheless abused alcohol or took it in moderate doses, but regularly (for example, on weekends), a course of the Speroton vitamin-mineral complex can help minimize the consequences of drinking alcohol. The preparation contains L-carnitine, which has a significant effect on sperm motility and concentration, as well as on other spermogram parameters. In addition to L-carnitine, Speroton contains folic acid, which reduces the number of defective spermatozoa, as well as vitamin E, zinc, and selenium. These substances help increase male fertility. It has been clinically proven that the drug Speroton increases the likelihood of conception.

How much should a woman not drink before conception

Before conception, a woman should abstain from alcohol for at least one month (or one cycle). This period is necessary so that the fluid in the fallopian tubes and cervical mucus do not change their consistency. Refusing alcohol before conception reduces the likelihood of an ectopic pregnancy by 70%.

It is important to note that the ovarian reserve is formed in women even before birth. Therefore, the eggs become "worse" with age, as they are exposed to a variety of adverse factors, which include alcohol.

Alcohol can destroy the structure of the ovaries, and this process is irreversible. Thus, all the alcohol that a woman consumes during her life negatively affects reproductive function.

Take care of the future

The health of the future generation depends on competent and responsible preparation for conception. Giving up alcohol is one of the most important steps along the way. This is not such a big sacrifice, if you remember that the reward will be the birth of a healthy son or daughter.

Pregnancy is one of the most significant events in the life of a married couple, and it is also important stage of development future child. Before deciding to take such a responsible step, you need to competently and radically resolve the relationship of future parents with alcohol.

Alcohol and conception - a bad cocktail

Before sex, many young people are tempted to add a couple of glasses or glasses of alcohol to the cocktail of feelings, sensations and experiences for courage. Alas, few of them know that alcohol is a common cause of:

• unplanned pregnancy;
• deformities and pathologies in the unborn child;
• psychological disorders associated with damage to the nervous system;
• serious illnesses in a child, such as heart disease, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, etc.

It happens that even mature people do not take into account all the possible dangers lurking in a glass of champagne. Therefore, the choice made in favor of prior consultation with a specialist doctor is the only right decision, in our difficult environmental and socio-psychological conditions of life.

IMPORTANT! Pregnancy is the result of a couple's responsible decision, which significantly and directly affects the life and health of the unborn child, as well as the happiness of the whole family.

The effect of alcohol on sex cells

In the process of the birth of a new life, in other words, in sexual intercourse, there are 2 actors - a man and a woman. And they are equally are responsible for the readiness of your body at conception and the health of your unborn child.

In men

There is a misconception that the effect of alcohol on the conception of a child in men, drunk immediately before sexual intercourse, does not have a negative effect on sperm. Because 3-month-olds are involved in conception. However, research has shown that alcohol affects for immediately.

The adoption of alcoholic beverages affects indirectly. Alcohol contributes decrease in efficiency barriers and filters that purify the blood.

Harmful substances and microorganisms, weakened by alcohol, enter the sperm through the blood and as a result: the number increases, and healthy ones slow down. In this way, probability of achieving rises many times.

Among women

The female body is arranged in a completely different way. All "drunken" parties before menstruation affect the conception of a child in women and increase the likelihood of disease in future offspring, and this negative effect tends to accumulate.

Every woman from birth has a limited. And all the harmful factors that affect the body have an effect on these cells. And the alcoholic drinks that the expectant mother drinks just before conception have almost no effect.

CAREFULLY! Alcohol can lead to blockage of the fallopian tube, which can lead to an ectopic pregnancy.

How much should I not drink before conception?

Unfortunately, Russia today is one of the most drinking countries in the world. More than 60% of the population drink alcohol daily, according to statistics, men do it more often than women.

man

A drinking man, in order to cleanse the body of toxins and minimize the negative effect of alcohol on, must not drink at least 70 days before conception. But some doctors insist on 4-6 months. If a man rarely drinks alcohol (several times a year), then this period can be reduced.

Frequent ejaculation during the period of abstinence from alcohol will be useful: it will allow you to get rid of

woman

Doctors advise women who are planning pregnancy to refrain from drinking alcohol for 3-4 menstrual cycles before conception. In their opinion, this period is sufficient to minimize the negative effect.

Preparing for conception and clean the body

Toxins that occur in the human body after drinking alcohol accumulate. To conceive a healthy baby, their concentration in the blood must be reduced. The most effective ways to do this are time and abstinence from alcohol. Within 2 months before conception, you do not need to drink activated charcoal or a decoction of chamomile roots. There is no point in this.

And here, perhaps supplemented with vitamins and compiled by a qualified doctor after consultation - what you need. Without a doubt, you will be prescribed

In short: Drunk conception threatens the unborn child with serious genetic diseases. To conceive a healthy child, a man needs to abstain from alcohol for 2-6 months, and a woman - 3.5 menstrual cycles. You should not drink alcohol during pregnancy and lactation.

By itself, alcohol does not have a teratogenic (that is, leading to deformities) effect. But alcohol leads to an increase in the permeability of biological barriers, including the hemato-testicular one. The hemato-testicular barrier filters the blood entering the spermatogenic epithelium. And if other harmful substances are present in the blood, then with an increase in permeability, they will damaging effect on spermatozoa.

Also, the effect of alcohol on sperm leads to alignment speed of movement of spermatozoa. Higher-quality spermatozoa normally move faster. With a drunken conception, it may turn out that a lower-quality spermatozoon, equaling in speed with a higher-quality one, will be the first to reach the egg and thereby transfer the defective genetic material to the fetus. The probability of this cannot be calculated in advance.

Alcohol during pregnancy

It is contraindicated for a pregnant woman to take any doses of alcohol during the period of differentiation of the embryo and the laying of organs in the fetus - in the first and second trimesters pregnancy.

In the third trimester alcohol also harms the fetus, but not in terms of improper physical development, but in terms of the possibility of developing alcohol dependence. It happens that a newborn is born with an already formed addiction. Therefore, in the third trimester, alcohol consumption is not so critical if it is not systematic: one or two episodes of alcohol consumption in a hangover-free dose (that is, in the absence of acute alcohol poisoning) over the last 13 weeks of gestation will not cause any clear harm. Everyone can calculate the hangover-free dose for themselves: this is 1.5 ml of pure alcohol (or 3.75 ml of vodka) per kilogram of body weight. We remind you once again that alcohol can be consumed by pregnant women only as an exception, not the rule.

Research results

The negative impact of large doses of alcohol on the fetus has long been proven: even a specific pathology has been identified - fetal alcohol syndrome.

However, the question still arises among pregnant women and women who want to get pregnant: is it possible to drink alcohol at least in small quantities or drink non-alcoholic beer? Unfortunately, until now, scientists cannot give an unambiguous answer to this question. Even a large study conducted did not allow a definite answer, although a number of analyzed sources noted that low doses of alcohol increase the risk of preterm birth by 10%.

Health organizations around the world are unanimous in their opinion: pregnant women and women planning pregnancy should completely abandon alcohol consumption.

Is it possible to drink a nursing mother

After the birth of the child, the mother will still have to be a teetotaler until she finishes breastfeeding. You should not drink alcohol while breastfeeding. A certain amount of alcohol will fall into the baby, and they are very sensitive to any amount - as a result, early dependence will develop.

If the nursing mother still drank alcohol, then you can’t breastfeed for the next 5 hours. This is the minimum period for which you need to take a break in feeding. The duration of the excretion of alcohol with milk approximately corresponds to the duration of the period for the removal of alcohol from the blood. Therefore, you need to wait at least five hours for alcohol to completely disappear from the blood and breast milk.

During this period, it is best to feed the baby with milk, expressed in advance and frozen in the freezer. If the mother cannot always feed the baby, then it is very important to have a supply of her own milk in such a case.

After waiting five hours after drinking alcohol, you need to express and pour out the accumulated breast milk, because it will contain alcohol. And the next, freshly prepared portion can be fed. It won't be that bad anymore. Although some risks still remain: the immunoprotective properties of breast milk are deteriorating, that is, it is no longer so successful in helping the child develop immunity. In addition, the organoleptic properties of milk also deteriorate - in other words, it becomes worse in taste, and the baby drops the breast faster. Therefore, in order not to cause so many difficulties, it would be most reasonable not to drink alcohol at all while breastfeeding.

Of the drinks that are somehow associated with alcohol, nursing mothers can only non-alcoholic beerbecause it is non-alcoholic. But kvass can not be any, because different types of kvass differ greatly in the content of alcohol in their composition.

Scientists' conclusions

The article was last updated: 2018-12-23

Didn't find what you were looking for?

Free guide to knowledge

Subscribe to the newsletter. We will tell you how to drink and eat so as not to harm your health. The best advice from the experts of the site, which is read by more than 200,000 people every month. Stop ruining your health and join us!