A new study released yesterday looks at the effects of drinking alcohol in pregnancy drawing on data from 11,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002.
Several contradictory studies have been published over the last few years and the advice to women has ranged from not drinking at all to having a few drinks with no consistency.
The results of the study suggest that women can have at least one glass of wine per week without harming their foetuses, and that, in fact, children who had mothers who drank a little every now and then have fewer social problems and scored higher on cognitive tests.
Children who had mothers who drank heavily during pregnancy did poorly on cognitive tests and were hyperactive.
Sounds reasonable, right?
Wrong.
1) The study is retrospective which means that they asked women what they drank during pregnancy well after the time that they were pregnant.
2) W0men who are affluent and highly educated tend to drink less during pregnancy anyway so babies are inclined to fare better on cognitive tests based on the socio-economic status of their mothers external to any influence on their development via drinking.
So, the jury is still out on drinking. Do you think avoiding alcohol is the best solution?
Showing posts with label fetal alcohol syndrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fetal alcohol syndrome. Show all posts
Don't drink lagers in Sussex while pregnant
We have seen the future and it is not good:
Caroline Williams, 23 week pregnant, was ordered out of a Sussex pub after bar staff noticed she had drunk a pint of lager and her friend attempted to purchase her one more half pint. Williams said, “I was on a rare night out with some friends. I had a pint of lager and a friend offered to get me another half that was going to be my limit." Her friend was refused service and the whole group was asked to leave the pub.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there is no evidence that a couple of units, equivalent to a pint of beer, once or twice a week will harm a baby.
Read more: Mum-to-be ordered out of pub
Caroline Williams, 23 week pregnant, was ordered out of a Sussex pub after bar staff noticed she had drunk a pint of lager and her friend attempted to purchase her one more half pint. Williams said, “I was on a rare night out with some friends. I had a pint of lager and a friend offered to get me another half that was going to be my limit." Her friend was refused service and the whole group was asked to leave the pub.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there is no evidence that a couple of units, equivalent to a pint of beer, once or twice a week will harm a baby.
Read more: Mum-to-be ordered out of pub
Drinking during pregnancy: a criminal offense?
New Zealand police found a pregnant woman, due to give birth this week, heavily intoxicated after what police think was allegedly an 8 hour drinking 'binge'. One detective says:
"It's gravely concerning that anyone would consume large amounts of alcohol while pregnant, placing the welfare of their own unborn child at risk. We will certainly be investigating the circumstances and if there is any criminality involved, we will consider whether charges should be laid against her."
This story comes hot on the heels of a recent push to change labelling on alcohol bottles to indicate that women should not drink at all during pregnancy.
What do you think?
Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23981494-23109,00.html
"It's gravely concerning that anyone would consume large amounts of alcohol while pregnant, placing the welfare of their own unborn child at risk. We will certainly be investigating the circumstances and if there is any criminality involved, we will consider whether charges should be laid against her."
This story comes hot on the heels of a recent push to change labelling on alcohol bottles to indicate that women should not drink at all during pregnancy.
What do you think?
Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23981494-23109,00.html
Alcohol in pregnancy: the saga continues
I finally feel vindicated in all my posts about risk culture and alcohol during pregnancy. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, medical experts are in a furore over the latest recommendations that pregnant women abstain from drinking completely during pregnancy. The 'zero tolerance' policy, as it has come to be known in other countries, has caused quite a bit of unrest among pregnant women who are scared to death that their babies will be damaged for life after consuming one drink.
I probably shouldn't say 'I told you so'..but...I TOLD YOU SO.
The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Christine Tippett, says:
"Specialists practising in obstetrics and gynaecology in Canada have had requests from women to terminate their pregnancy because they're concerned they may have harmed their foetuses through alcohol exposure early in their pregnancy."
How ridiculous is this? Why is it that doctors are surprised that women are so freaked out in light of all of these 'rules' about alcohol they think that one drink is going to cause fetal alcohol syndrome?
I think it's great to encourage women to have healthy pregnancies; I think it's paternalistic and just wrong to monitor pregnant women so closely and scare them so much that they do not feel responsible enough or too guilty to continue with a pregnancy because they've had a few drinks.
Dr. Tippett continues:
"It's extremely unlikely that a small amount of alcohol or a single case of binge drinking is going to be harmful to the foetus … We need to establish what is a safe level rather than saying you shouldn't drink at all, because that does engender a great deal of anxiety."
Some of the women in my study were so distressed about drinking, especially early in pregnancy (when many of them did not actually know they were pregnant), they went into hyper-vigilance mode when it came to food, drink and exercise for the rest of the pregnancy because they felt so guilty about drinking in the first few weeks. New British research has revealed that binge drinking (more than 5 drinks) is actually NOT consistently harmful to fetuses.
"When pregnant women report isolated episodes of binge drinking in the absence of a consistently high daily alcohol intake ... the evidence of risk seems minimal," the researchers wrote in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, published today.
This may be a comfort to women who drank early on in pregnancy without knowing they were pregnant but only highlights the absolute inconsistency in research findings on this topic. If one group of doctors is telling women not to drink at all, others say no more than one drink per day, and then another group says an occasional binge is okay, what are women to do?
Pregnancy is hard enough as it is...perhaps more research should be done before women stop having babies altogether because they are too afraid to breathe, or walk outside, or come into contact with cheese or be in the presence of alcohol, lest they harm their unborn.
What do you think?
Sources: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/zerotolerance-alcohol-code-may-cause-panic/2007/11/14/1194766770310.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/boozings-minimal-baby-harm/2007/11/14/1194766733789.html
I probably shouldn't say 'I told you so'..but...I TOLD YOU SO.
The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Christine Tippett, says:
"Specialists practising in obstetrics and gynaecology in Canada have had requests from women to terminate their pregnancy because they're concerned they may have harmed their foetuses through alcohol exposure early in their pregnancy."
How ridiculous is this? Why is it that doctors are surprised that women are so freaked out in light of all of these 'rules' about alcohol they think that one drink is going to cause fetal alcohol syndrome?
I think it's great to encourage women to have healthy pregnancies; I think it's paternalistic and just wrong to monitor pregnant women so closely and scare them so much that they do not feel responsible enough or too guilty to continue with a pregnancy because they've had a few drinks.
Dr. Tippett continues:
"It's extremely unlikely that a small amount of alcohol or a single case of binge drinking is going to be harmful to the foetus … We need to establish what is a safe level rather than saying you shouldn't drink at all, because that does engender a great deal of anxiety."
Some of the women in my study were so distressed about drinking, especially early in pregnancy (when many of them did not actually know they were pregnant), they went into hyper-vigilance mode when it came to food, drink and exercise for the rest of the pregnancy because they felt so guilty about drinking in the first few weeks. New British research has revealed that binge drinking (more than 5 drinks) is actually NOT consistently harmful to fetuses.
"When pregnant women report isolated episodes of binge drinking in the absence of a consistently high daily alcohol intake ... the evidence of risk seems minimal," the researchers wrote in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, published today.
This may be a comfort to women who drank early on in pregnancy without knowing they were pregnant but only highlights the absolute inconsistency in research findings on this topic. If one group of doctors is telling women not to drink at all, others say no more than one drink per day, and then another group says an occasional binge is okay, what are women to do?
Pregnancy is hard enough as it is...perhaps more research should be done before women stop having babies altogether because they are too afraid to breathe, or walk outside, or come into contact with cheese or be in the presence of alcohol, lest they harm their unborn.
What do you think?
Sources: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/zerotolerance-alcohol-code-may-cause-panic/2007/11/14/1194766770310.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/boozings-minimal-baby-harm/2007/11/14/1194766733789.html
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