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Alcohol

Alcohol crosses the placenta to your baby very easily and quickly, and heavy drinking during pregnancy can damage your baby. Drinking too much will also damage your health. Women who abuse alcohol increase their risk of breast cancer and liver disease. Both can kill.

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.

Although experts cannot agree about the exact level of alcohol needed to cause harm to babies during pregnancy, the general feeling is that drinking has to be heavy and regular to cause fetal alcohol syndrome. 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. 

How much is too much?

Most experts say that you should drink no more than eight units of alcohol a week while you are pregnant (or planning to get pregnant). Do not have more than two units of alcohol in a day. Use the table showing units of alcohol as a guide.

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.

If you are not pregnant (nor planning a pregnancy) you should drink no more than 14-21 units of alcohol a week, and should aim to keep one or two days alcohol-free.

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 measure small glass of wine (100mls)
  • ½ pint of ordinary strength beer or lager
  • ¼ pint of strong beer or cider
  • 1 sherry glass of sherry, port, vermouth (55mls)

(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.

Ways to cut down

  • Check the ‘alcohol % vol’ label on bottles and cans and choose the lowest
  • Try alcohol-free wines and beers
  • Quench your thirst with non-alcoholic drinks
  • Sip your drink, and put your glass down between sips
  • Find other ways to help you relax - a warm bath, lovemaking, music

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 about getting help.

Where to next?