you're barred becauase you are pregnant and drinking

Mother-to-be is ordered out of a pub by staff concerned for health of her baby
By Julie Moult
Last updated at 8:57 PM on 31st March 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166124/Mother-ordered-pub-staff-concerned-health-baby.html

Pregnant Caroline Williams was ordered out of her local pub after bar staff saw her sipping a friend's pint A pregnant woman was refused a drink at a pub and then asked to leave by staff who said they were protecting her unborn child.

Caroline Williams, 26, who is five months pregnant, says she felt humiliated by the treatment. She insists she is a responsible mother and would never endanger her baby. The incident at the Cricketer pub in Hove, East Sussex, has reignited the debate on drinking during pregnancy.
Advice from the Chief Medical Officer says that women trying to conceive or who are pregnant should avoid drinking alcohol.
Excess alcohol consumption can be the cause of a condition known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome which causes mental retardation and birth defects. But other experts say an occasional glass of wine will not harm a child.


Mrs Williams, who lives in Hove with her computer engineer husband Ben, 34, was at the pub with friends last Saturday. She said: 'I was on a rare night out with some friends. I had a pint of lager and a friend offered to get me another half - that was going to be my limit. 'He was refused service because it was for me and when I later took a sip from another friend's glass the assistant manageress asked me and my friends to leave.
'I never felt so singled out and humiliated in my life.

'I don't think what I did was doing any harm. This is my second baby and I'm feeling much more relaxed about this pregnancy than I did with my first. But I'm still very careful. 'I understand what the pub was thinking about but they didn't approach me to discuss it - they were just rude and ordered us out. 'I've never been ordered out of anywhere before and I'm not one to cause a scene, so we just left.

'I know the management has the right to refuse service but the assistant manageress was using that right to impose her opinions about what pregnant women should and shouldn't be consuming.'

Enlarge Barred: Caroline Williams was ordered out of the Sussex Cricketers pub after staff saw her sipping beer Pubs have the right to refuse to serve customers and do not need to give a reason for doing so. An assistant manageress, who did not give her name, confirmed she had asked Mrs Williams to leave. She described her as 'a heavily pregnant lady who was drinking alcohol'.

Another staff member defended the decision, adding: 'The assistant manageress was only thinking of the welfare of the mother and child.'
But a spokesman for the Mitchells and Butler chain which owns the pub apologised and said an investigation had been launched. He said: 'We would like to apologise unreservedly to all of the guests involved for any offence that may have been caused. While the team member may have believed she was acting with her own good intentions, she did not handle the situation in an appropriate manner.'

Since May 2007, the Health Service has advised women to avoid alcohol completely. This is in line with the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France. But in October 2008, a large-scale study was published showing no link between having the occasional drink during pregnancy and behavioural problems in the child. And GPs often advise women that one or two drinks a week will not be a problem. The National Organisation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome said the action by the pub staff was heavy-handed.

The group's founder Susan Fleisher said: 'We believe pregnant women need understanding and support to change their habits.'

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I support the pub's decision.