Alcohol and pregnancy: A volatile mix

by Shari Roan Copyright2009 Los Angeles Times
A British scientist is criticizing doctors over the advice they give to pregnant women about drinking, saying that pregnant women are big girls who can make up their own minds about the risks.
In the United States, most medical advice on drinking during pregnancy centers on one word: "Don't." But the British have wrangled over the issue with considerable angst in recent years. In 2007, United Kingdom government officials recommended that women abstain from drinking any alcoholic beverages during pregnancy. The advice was controversial because, while excessive drinking in pregnancy is clearly harmful to a developing fetus and can result in fetal alcohol syndrome, there is debate over the harm of light or moderate drinking during pregnancy. In 2008, the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reported that there was no evidence of harm if women drank no more than one or two drinks a week.
Studying the issue seems to be a favorite pastime in the U.K. One recent study suggested that even drinking small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can affect maternal-child bonding and delay the mother's recovery from childbirth. Another study found that children born to mothers who drank one or two drinks per week during pregnancy were not at increased risk for behavioral or cognitive problems at age 3 compared with kids whose mothers did not drink.
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