Light drinking during pregnancy no risk to baby

Discounting the long advocated notion, a team of researchers at the University College, London in their latest study conclude that light drinking during pregnancy does no harm’ to the baby. Rather, it actually improves their behavior and vocabulary, when grown up.

Over 12,000 children aged around 3 were enrolled for the study. Through questionnaires, the researchers monitored the mother’s drinking patterns during pregnancy.

Separately, the children were adjudged on behavior, peer relations and emotional avenues. They also underwent performance tests.

Children born to mothers who indulged in light drinking during pregnancy, not more than two drinks a week, were less likely to experience behavioral problems compared to those whose mothers abstained from drinking, researchers found. They also scored better in tests of vocabulary, and those seeking shape, color, alphabet and number recognition.

Classifying on basis of gender, boys born to mothers who indulged in light drinking were 40 percent less likely to experience conduct problems and were 30 percent less likely to report hyperactivity. However, girls born to light drinkers were 30 percent less likely to exhibit conduct symptoms.

Interestingly, as conventionally believed, light drinking did not increase the risk of mental impairment in children.

While fertility experts have long advocated alcohol abstinence among pregnant and those trying to conceive, the findings of the study come as a surprise to the medical world.

The damaging effect of alcohol on fetus, medically known as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, afflicts as many as 6,000 children in UK each year. Those affected by the syndrome are born with facial alterations, small stature, intellectual and learning problems. Also, these kids are more likely to take to alcohol addiction later in life.

While the Department of Health, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Medical Association and other health majors still maintain that avoiding alcohol altogether is the safest option during pregnancy, Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said, “If you do choose to drink, to protect the baby one should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week and should not get drunk.”

The findings of the study feature in the current issue of the journal International Journal of Epidemiology’.

Source: http://www.themedguru.com