Putting the restaurant's actions and liquor laws aside, the arguments over whether pregnant women should drink alcohol run deep.
Like euthanasia, capital punishment and smacking, people are passionate about what they believe in. They will swear they are correct and the other side is wrong.
In this case, there are people who say it is up to the woman to decide. After all, it is her body and her baby and one glass is surely not going to do any harm.
It is a powerful argument that people should be free to decide how they treat their bodies and there are too many people in this country telling other people how to live. I have to agree somewhat. The age of PC is indeed out of control and we are governed by too many modern-day laws, bylaws and moral judgments. Nichola Hayes also has a powerful ally in Hamilton-based obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Phil McChesney, who says although abstinence is safest he would be surprised if one glass of alcohol had any effect on an unborn child.
The British National Health Service advises pregnant women to avoid alcohol but then says if they do have a drink they should stick to one or two units (equivalent to one small glass of wine) once or twice a week.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says small amounts after the first three months do not appear to be harmful.
BUT the royal college also says there is no proven safe amount that women can drink while pregnant and the only way to be certain that a baby is not harmed by alcohol is to not drink at all during pregnancy.
New Zealand's Ministry of Health, in guidelines published in 2010, is clear: there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and alcohol crosses freely through the placenta.
The risks include stillbirth, miscarriage, and the baby being born with a number of lifelong problems such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which includes issues such as birth defects, brain damage, poor growth and developmental delay.
Some might say this is scaremongering when it comes to one glass. But how does anyone know exactly what impact a glass of alcohol will have on any given unborn child?
There are parallels that can be drawn with obesity and diet during pregnancy. Obesity is a major issue but it is a difficult comparison because resolving a weight issue after falling pregnant is not the same as avoiding a glass of wine (unless the person is an alcoholic).
Nichola Hayes is on record as saying she avoided drinking during 36 weeks of pregnancy. So why was it so important to have that glass of wine? Could she not wait a few more weeks until her baby was born?
She has not broken the law and neither has the restaurant.
It would be absurd to try to legislate against pregnant women buying alcohol or cigarettes or eating what they want. They need to ultimately make their own decisions and take any risks they feel comfortable with.
But I think common sense should prevail. Parenting carries responsibilities and this means putting the child, born or unborn, first and doing everything possible to ensure they are healthy and safe. Unborn children have rights. How is drinking while pregnant any different to feeding wine to a baby that has been born? I am sure if that were to ever happen in a restaurant there would be an uproar.
Pregnancy and giving birth carry enough risks without deliberately adding to them.
There's plenty of time for a drink at the right time after the baby is born.
