 Alcohol
and pregnancy
Alcohol crosses the placenta to your baby very easily and quickly, and
heavy drinking during pregnancy can cause physical and mental birth defects
the most severe form being fetal alcohol syndrome. Drinking too much will
also damage your health because it increases your risk of breast cancer
and liver disease.
Experts cannot agree about the exact level of alcohol needed to cause
harm to babies during pregnancy. The advice from health experts at the
Royal College of Physicians and Department of Health is that no amount
of alcohol consumption can be considered safe during pregnancy. However,
the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaeocologists and the Food Standards
agency recommends a limit of one or two units of alcohol, once or twice
a week.
How much is too much?
The revised National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
advise (27.03.08) says: Women should not drink any alcohol during the
first three months of pregnancy. According to the new advice, women should
also be much stricter about what they drink from the fourth month onwards
- a small amount of alcohol is safe, but never more than one or two days
a week.
In fact, many women decide to give up alcohol altogether during pregnancy.
You may feel that you simply no longer enjoy the taste or decide that
drinking no alcohol at all will avoid the temptation of having ‘just
one more drink’. Or you may settle on a compromise of one or two
units of alcohol, once or twice a week.
What if you drink before you know you're pregnant?
Drinking has to be heavy and regular to cause fetal alcohol syndrome
(see below). It seems unlikely that your baby will be harmed by just one
or two episodes of heavy drinking or drunkenness before you realised you
were pregnant.
The important thing to remember is that once you do know you're pregnant,
it is time to focus on your and your baby-to-be's health.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
If you drink more than six units of alcohol a day during pregnancy, the risk of
damaging your baby is very high. He may be born with a condition called fetal alcohol
syndrome. Babies with fetal alcohol syndrome often have problems with sight, hearing and
later learning. Drinking between two and six units of alcohol a day may lead to a milder
form of fetal alcohol syndrome. Smoking, a poor diet and the use of illegal drugs will
increase the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome.
Units of alcohol
It can be hard to estimate what a unit of alcohol is since the amount
of liquid varies according to the type of drink.
Here are some typical drinks that contain one unit of alcohol:
- 1 pub measure (‘single’ or 25mls) of spirits
- 1 pub glass of wine (100mls)
- 1 pint of ordinary strength beer or lager
- 1/2 pint of stroong beer or cider
- 1 sherry glass of sherry, port, vermouth (55mls)
- ½ an alcopop
(1 unit of alcohol = 10g of alcohol)
Using this chart, measure out a unit of alcohol in millilitres into a
glass at home and take that as your guide.
Extra help
If you have been used to drinking a lot and find it hard to cut down
now that you are pregnant, you may need extra help, for the sake of both
you and your baby. It can be hard admitting that you have a problem with
alcohol and asking for help. But an addiction to alcohol can be overcome
like any other addiction and specialist help is readily available. Talk
with your family doctor or call Drinkline on 0800 917 8282.
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