Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to give birth prematurely or have a miscarriage, a new study has revealed.
The research, published in the journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, looked at the amounts of alcohol women consumed during the early stages of their gestation and the effect this had on their unborn child.
The US Centres for Disease Control urges pregnant women not to drink alcohol any time during pregnancy.
Women also should not drink alcohol if they are planning to become pregnant or are sexually active and do not use effective birth control.
This is because a woman could become pregnant and not know for several weeks or more. In the United States half of all pregnancies are unplanned.
Why is Alcohol Dangerous during Pregnancy?
When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, so does her unborn baby.
Alcohol in the mother’s blood passes through the placenta to the baby through the umbilical cord. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and a range of lifelong disorders, known as foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).
Read more about the characteristics and behaviors of children with FASDs and how much alcohol is too much to drink during pregnancy.
FASDs are 100% preventable
If a woman doesn’t drink alcohol while she is pregnant, her child cannot have an FASD. Learn more about FASDs.
Watch a video about living with FASDs.
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