Mums-to-be warned to cut out booze for sake of baby
Saturday May 26 2007
PREGNANT women should stop drinking alcohol completely or risk causing undue harm to their child, according to a leading Irish doctor.
Until now, expert guidance has allowed mothers some leeway, declaring it safe for expectant mothers to drink four units of alcohol, or around two large glasses of wine, a week.
However, according to psychiatrist Dr Siobhan Barry the only way to eradicate any risk to a newborn baby is to adopt a zero tolerance approach to alcohol, even for those who are trying to conceive.
Limiting consumption to four units a week would only minimise risk to the baby, said Dr Barry. "The evolving literature has shown that for some women even small amounts of alcohol can be detrimental to their newborn.
"We found in an earlier study that some offspring's exposed to even moderate levels of alcohol showed increased hyper-activity and difficulties with attention. It is not possible to predict who will be vulnerable to difficulties with alcohol so the only advice we can stand over (is) zero tolerance."
The new advice is bound to cause alarm to many women around the country.
In March, a survey conducted by the Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin found that 8,520 expectant mothers admitted to drinking more than six units of alcohol per week.
Health Minister Mary Harney said she would consider the labelling of alcoholic drinks to warn women of the dangers of drinking while pregnant.
"The message is there is no known safe level of alcohol use in pregnancy."
The advice follows on from a shift in official policy by the British government which had issued new guidelines that stated: "Pregnant women or women trying to conceive should avoid alcohol.
"If they do choose to drink", the guidelines added, "they should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week and should not get drunk."
- Patricia McDonagh
