Do you take communion wine while pregnant?
I am 26 weeks pregnant. I have always enjoyed the experience of taking communion at church. When I go to Lutheran church with my parents they offer individual cups, including some that are non-alcoholic, so I take those. But when I go to Catholic Mass with my husband, they only offer common cup of wine.
Things brings up a few things for me, so I wanted to see what others out there were thinking and how you had resolved this.
First, the common cup poses some risk of getting other folks’ germs, especially during the winter cold/flu season.
Second, wine is wine. In general I don’t think the thimble sip of wine on sunday will cause FAS.
Third, now that I am really showing, I worry that people would judge me if I did decide to take the communion wine. If people were judging me elsewhere it probably wouldn’t matter much, I could brush it off (although truthfully, there is no where else I am contemplating having any alcohol at all). But being judged at church would feel worse to me somehow, more crushing and isolating.
Have any of the rest of you dealt with these issues? What experiences did you have? How did you resolve them?
Tagged with: alcohol • catholic mass • cold flu • communion wine • cup of wine • experiences • flu • flu season • germs • lutheran church • parents • risk • sip of wine
Filed under: All Things Wine
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I don’t think anyone would think twice about a pregnant woman taking wine at communion! I’ve seen many pregnant women take the wine (this is at a Catholic Church,) and I did myself as well. As far as the germs go, it’s nothing I would ever worry about in that situation, but I can’t prove that you wouldn’t catch a bug from someone. But definitely don’t worry about people judging you. But if it is really a concern, you can always take communion but skip the wine until post-pregnancy!
My church in united pentecostal. We use grape juice in individual cups. My sister almost died from spinal minigitus a few years back.
I would never drink from a cup that others drink from without washing before my lips touched it. I don’t know honey, but I would stick to your parents communion.
I would not. You can talk to the priest after mass and request they have a non-alcoholic wine. I’m sure he’d be more than willing considering your situation.
Drinking from a cup that others have drank from does contain TONS of germs. Although if it is alcoholic wine, the alcohol helps kill some of them. But I still DON’T recommend drinking the alcoholic wine.
First question… are you Catholic or Lutheran? You should not be taking comunion at both, as they both have different understandings of communion and true presence. If you are Catholic, you should not be communing at the Lutheran church; if you are Lutheran, you should not be communing at Mass.
Now, on to the question….
With the common cup, there is a reaction between the silver and alcohol in the wine which does kill off the germs. Most studies show that there are less germs using the common cup then using the individual cups. Also, it is wiped between each person who communes.
The amount of wine you are getting is so miniscule, that it is a non-issue. While I avoided all alchohol during all of my pregnancies, that is the one that I did not avoid. I even spoke to my ob about it and she agreed that it was not an issue.
As for judging… well, people will think what they will think. But, the only concern should be between you and God. Most people will not judge.