Alcohol in Pregnancy?

Hey everyone,

Last week, we received a great pre-pregnancy question by one of our readers:

"What about alcohol? Is a glass of red wine with dinner okay, or should one who is trying to conceive and having difficulty omit it all together?"

This is a common question for both women trying to conceive and expectant mothers... 

While trying to conceive, the occasional drink is safe, provided you do not think you are pregnant. I counsel my patients that they are allowed to have a few drinks during the first part of their cycle (i.e. approximately the first ten days of a regular 28-day cycle).  However, once they think they have ovulated and could potentially be pregnant, it is best to avoid alcohol.  

The reason for avoiding alcohol is that there is no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy.  Thus, you could potentially do harm to your unborn baby by drinking. For more information on reasons why you should eliminate alcohol from your diet when pregnant, check out: http://www.sogc.org/health/alcohol_e.asp. This link provides information from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada regarding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), supports available for women with alcohol dependence, breastfeeding and other resources. 

On the flip side however, five recent papers published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in June 2012 discuss the safety of alcohol in pregnancy.  These studies examined the effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy in 5-year old children.  When they analyzed data on IQ levels, attention span and executive functions (such as planning, organizational skills and control) there was no significant difference in children exposed to low (1-4 drinks/week) and moderate (5-8 drinks/week) alcohol in utero compared to non-exposed children.  Children exposed to >9 drinks/week in utero were found to have a lower attention span. 

Despite these results, more studies are required to truly determine the safety of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.  I will continue to recommend abstaining from drinking to my patients. However, this information tells us that if you accidentally consume some alcohol before you know you are pregnant, you probably don't need to worry.

To recap, alcohol is known to potentially have detrimental effects on your unborn baby - and it's difficult to know what amount, if any, is safe to consume.  Thus, I recommend that you minimize alcohol consumption while trying to conceive and abstain entirely during your pregnancy.