Avoid Alcohol during pregnancy! Oops
It is not uncommon for us to hear “Doctor, I am scared. I had a couple of drinks and then found out I am pregnant.”
It is a known fact that alcohol is a teratogen; a substance that has been known to cause the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which includes abnormal facial appearance, and potentially significant longstanding mental and cognitive compromise. We therefore ask our patients to refrain from all alcoholic beverages during pregnancy due to these known, potentially adverse effects. We always see the Surgeon General’s statement on alcoholic beverages.
In Europe, patients often continue occasional, social drinking during pregnancy without ill effects. A recent interesting study was conducted with 2,370 children in Western Australia evaluating behavioral scores (anxiety, depression, etc.) and found that children of mothers who consumed 2 – 6 standard drinks a week during their pregnancy actually had better behavioral scores from ages 2 – 14 years of age (Robinson). There are also many reviews in the literature which do not show any ill effects with low-moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
The concerns are that there are no clear cut definitions of low consumption, no safe level of alcohol consumption has ever been established, and alcohol is known to have potential adverse effects. For these reasons we strongly advise patients not to drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy. BUT, if a patient inadvertently had a drink or two and then found she was pregnant, these studies lend reassurance that this minimal exposure is very unlikely to cause a problem!
www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/pressreleases
Systemic review of the effects of low-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on pregnancy BJOG 2007; 114(3) : 243
