Telling pregnant women to drink no alcohol is counterproductive

No strong evidence low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is dangerous, and it may stigmatize the responsible drinkers

Women should be advised to drink alcohol during pregnancy may cause permanent damage to the brain of your baby and other birth defects, according to a report released Tuesday by the troubles caused by Fetal Alcohol confidence and nearly 70 health professionals.

The report is likely to revive the debate about how much, if any, alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy. Current UK guidance advises women to stop drinking, but if they choose to drink should limit their intake of one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week.

Some, including the author of the report, the psychiatrist Raja Mukherjee, the message that this is simply confusing and women should be told not to drink alcohol. I disagree, because I think it would be contrary to scientific evidence and risk alienating women who believe rightly charge a small occasional glass during pregnancy is unlikely to cause damage.

There is no doubt that excessive consumption and even moderately during pregnancy is dangerous. According to a recent report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, drinking more than six units a day (or two glasses of wine), put babies at risk for FASD. About 8,000 new cases of FASD are diagnosed each year. Only two units per day (one glass of wine) in late pregnancy significantly increases the risk of the baby having a low birth weight, which increases the risk of behavioral problems or other development in the adulthood.

However, below this level, there is a large gray area where you do not know or simply no alcohol is safe. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a definitive answer, because the study needs to be done - Groups of random allocation of pregnant women consume different amounts of alcohol and then look to see what is happening with their children as they grow - would be unethical. It is also likely that the individual risk varies genetic constitution of an individual.

But Danish researchers recently made the next best thing: he asked the women, during pregnancy, the amount of alcohol they drank, and then followed the progress of their children as they grow. The research, published last year found that one to eight units per week had no apparent effect on the duration of the IQ child care, or brain functions such as planning, organization and self-control - at least when the children were assessed at the age of five years.

Similarly, a review of 46 scientific studies on the effects of low to moderate drinking (up to 10.4 units per week) did not find an increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight or birth defects at birth, including Spectrum Disorder Alcohol - a general term for several birth defects caused by exposure to alcohol in utero. But because none of these studies was perfect, the researchers could not say with certainty that the light of moderate consumption is safe. doctors Mukherjee as saying that no amount of alcohol would be happy to tell pregnant women is safe to consume are quite justified in his sight. We do not know if any amount of alcohol is safe. The problem is that many women are aware that their mothers drank small amounts during pregnancy and were fine. These women may be sponsored by rules that say anything to drink, and so away from medical care altogether.

• The report calls for confidence FASD using standardized questionnaires to identify pregnant women who may be drunk, and that this information be recorded in their medical records, as well as her baby. The hope is that this will eventually allow children with FASD early diagnosis so that appropriate support can be provided, so that at least some of them to lead a relatively normal life.
• But
• recommend that pregnant women drink alcohol without risk of stigmatization responsible drinkers since few, if any, to admit how much they are drinking - something that is essential to achieve the trust of FASD identify children at risk.
Be honest about the state of the evidence is an alternative approach that allows women to decide for themselves the level of risk you want to take. Since the vast majority of the care of his passion unborn child and you want to protect your best, it is likely that most act responsibly and to limit their consumption to a minimum.

But it also means that there will beat the rap if sometimes take a glass or two of champagne at a wedding reception.

The real problems are drinkers, light, but women with alcohol dependence, the fact that our society as a whole is to drink more, and many do not know that 'is a unit of alcohol.

So let's by all means recording the amount of alcohol drunk pregnant and have a frank discussion with them about risk reduction, but please do not stigmatize or not get an honest answer. In addition to identifying children with FASD before, could even help scientists closer to a definitive answer as to whether an amount of alcohol during pregnancy is really sure.
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