Drinking up baby

This blog has touched before on the disapproval pregnant women face when they choose to have an occasional drink. This 2006 New York Times article written by a woman who chose to drink wine during her pregnancy provides a good background on the issue, one that’s become heated in England and as the government there considers revising its health guidelines. That’s where some new research suggests that moderate alcohol in the second and third trimesters isn’t dangerous for the child:

Boys born to mothers who drank lightly were 40% less likely to have conduct problems and 30% less likely to be hyperactive, even when the differences between social and economic circumstances were taken into account. They also scored more highly in vocabulary tests and were better able to identify shapes, colours, letters and numbers.

The research has the authority of a large study - it involved 12,495 children - but is likely to further fuel the controversy over alcohol in pregnancy.

The study also found that girls born to light drinkers were 30% less likely to have emotional and peer problems, compared with abstainers, but in their case this could not be extricated from their family backgrounds.

Although allowances had been made for social circumstances, Dr Yvonne Kelly, the lead researcher, said they could not be completely certain that the children’s better performance was not linked to their family background.

It’s possible that women who drink are more relaxed in general and that might be what accounts for the better behavior of their children, but it’s still striking that the study found no harm associated with moderate intake. Reasonable women may still prefer not to consume while pregnant, but this at least is one reason for laying off the ones who do.

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Tagged as: alcohol, health, pregnancy