Even a Small Amount of Alcohol During Pregnancy Linked to Changes in a Child’s Face : ScienceAlert

If you’re pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant, don’t drink alcohol. Two studies from 2021 support the idea that alcohol consumption during pregnancy isn’t a good idea – both for the overall outcome of the pregnancy and for fetal neurodevelopment. Researchers who knew nothing about the maternal consumption of alcohol during the pregnancy examined the 5-year-old children of those pregnancies. They performed tests on IQ, attention span, and executive functions such as planning, organization, and self-control.

• There is evidence that heavy drinking and/or binge drinking (more than 4 drinks over 2-3 hours) can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome and issues with brain development.
• One interview with a GP was repeated due to the failure of technical equipment during the first attempt.
• Drinking alcohol while pregnant has been shown to cause harm to a baby as it develops in the womb.
• The women in our study were aware of social expectations that they cease consumption of alcohol during pregnancy and some responded by abstaining.

For women to follow these guidelines and change their alcohol-related attitude and behaviour, advice needs to be clear and consistent providing specific details of the potential harms low level drinking may cause . Importantly, midwives should be trained to provide alcohol advice appropriate to drinking level and given sufficient time to do this . These needs are echoed by recent evidence which found that UK midwives may not know the source of current recommendations for abstention during pregnancy . Such evidence points to the contradictory social norms pregnant women must navigate, a matter which deserves considered attention.

The potential hazard of alcohol during pregnancy

If a woman was pregnant and had children of dependent age, she was grouped with the pregnant participants. Healthcare professionals were recruited to represent the key health contacts for women during pregnancy and motherhood and for women experiencing alcohol use problems . Women predominantly assessed the risk of their drinking in terms of the kinds of alcoholic beverages consumed rather than alcohol content. In reflecting on the advice they recalled receiving, women described their healthcare practitioners as being relaxed about the risks of alcohol consumption.

But children who are diagnosed early and get the right care are more likely to have better outcomes than those who don’t. This is especially true for those in a stable and nurturing home. Data saturation in the form of ‘informational redundancy’ , where further data does not yield new information , is not a goal in reflexive thematic analysis as data saturation is not particularly useful or theoretically https://ecosoberhouse.com/ coherent. Rather, the notion of information power, whereby the relevance of the information collected rather than the number of participants, may provide a better way of considering data samples . CM contributed to the design of interview schedules, arranged and conducted interviews, contributed to conceptualising the manuscript, analysed results and drafted the initial manuscript.

Helping children make friends: What parents can do

Women and healthcare professionals agreed that drinking in moderation is acceptable once the baby has been born, but that excessive drinking can carry significant risks. Alcohol use during pregnancy is linked to miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and sudden infant death syndrome. It can also cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which can lead to lifelong physical and mental health problems. But many women in the United States drink while they’re pregnant. Screening pregnant women for alcohol use and referring them to treatment if needed can help women avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

This widespread idea seems to be predicated on the fact that heavy drinking and binge drinking is shown to cause birth defects. Therefore, experts say, an occasional drink might cause little defects — which is not how science is supposed to work. We found that some women expressed anxiety about drinking alcohol during pregnancy but this anxiety was not widespread.

Participants and research team

Read common questions on the coronavirus and ACOG’s evidence-based answers. The percent numbers (%) you see on the label of the bottle or can will tell you how much of the drink is pure alcohol. Early intervention is important to reduce alcohol during pregnancy the chances that children born with FAS will have serious problems when they get older. Because of these problems, children with FAS often have low self-esteem. They do best with an education program that is tailored to their needs.