Avoiding alcohol during pregnancy is the safest option. There is no proven safe amount of alcohol a woman can drink during pregnancy.

Alcohol can pass through the placenta to the baby. The risk of harming the baby increases with the amount of alcohol. Stopping drinking at any point during pregnancy can be beneficial. However, in some instances, the effects of heavy drinking cannot be reversed.

 

Drinking heavily during pregnancy can:

• Increase chances of miscarriage or stillbirth

• Affect the baby’s brain development

• Affect baby”s grow in the uterus by impairing placenta function (fetal growth restriction) 

• Increase the risk of premature labor

• Cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD): learning difficulties, problems with behaviour, physical disability, and emotional and psychiatric problems that last a lifetime.

• Cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) especially in case of heavy drinking of alcohol or drinking alcohol regularly in pregnancy. It is characterized by severe physical and mental disability

 

The safest option is to avoid alcohol during breastfeeding as it can pass to breast milk. Regular drinking during breastfeeding may affect the baby’s development.

 

 

Sources and acknowledgments

 

 

Fonti e bibliografia

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Alcohol Use in Pregnancy CDC

 

UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines (Department of Health, 2016)

 

Alcohol and pregnancy. January 2018. RCOG patient information leaflet.

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