Can you drink when you’re pregnant?

Photography Thinkstock

Is it OK to have a wine or two when you're pregnant?

Well, that’s what a recent UK study of 11,513 mums has confirmed; that the offspring of women who drank “lightly” (one 150ml glass of wine a week) during pregnancy showed no ill effects. It also found light drinkers’ kids were 30 per cent less likely to have behavioural problems by age five than those whose mums abstained.

But this goes against Australia’s alcohol in pregnancy guidelines, set by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which has recommended abstinence since 2007.

However, they’ve yo-yoed: in 2001 they went from a stance of abstinence to a stance of “low” consumption (<7 standard drinks/week, no more than 2 drinks on any one day). Confused? We asked experts to debate so you can decide.

YES

Dr Olivia Payne GP specialising in obstetrics, gynaecology and antenatal care
“Far from ‘encouraging’ pregnant women to drink, establishing a safe low level of intake is not only evidence-based, it has important implications.

Consider the high number of unplanned pregnancies and the large proportion (about 20 per cent) of women who don’t know they’re pregnant during the first three weeks of gestation – both factors make the inadvertent intake of alcohol in early pregnancy widespread.

In such cases, advocating that only total abstinence is safe can cause feelings of often unfounded guilt and worry among mothers who decide to continue the pregnancy, or even unfairly impact on a woman’s decision to continue or terminate a pregnancy.

In a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia in June 2010, 80 per cent of pregnant women consumed alcohol – a percentage that remained unchanged when the NHMRC guidelines were redefined. Although the NHMRC’s current stance is abstinence, the 2001 alteration sought to outline a safe, practical level of alcohol consumption.

Heavy alcohol intake (4+ drinks/day) in early pregnancy significantly increases risk of foetal alcohol syndrome and miscarriage, and both studies reflected this in their results.

But the UK study isn’t the only research that adds weight to the argument that an occasional drink during pregnancy is safe – a Western Australian study involving 4714 women published in the October 2010 issue of Pediatrics found that, in those with low to moderate alcohol consumption (<7 standard drinks/week, no more than 2 drinks on any one day) during pregnancy, there was no increased incidence of alcohol-related birth defects.”

NO

Dr Ginni Mansberg WH health expert, GP and author of Why Am I So Tired?
“Wondering whether or not it’s OK to enjoy the odd drink while pregnant? Sadly, the answer is still no. Sorry to be the wowser, but it’s my professional duty.

I defer to the greater wisdom of the collection of Grand Poobahs at Australia’s NHMRC. They look at all the studies and put out a guideline based on their enormous combined intellect and scientific research. The guidelines for alcohol in pregnancy are admittedly not their finest work, being a tad wishy-washy, but allow me to quote: ‘For women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, not drinking is the safest option.’

Of course, nobody considers drinking more than a few glasses seven days a week would be OK. The issue is, ‘Is an occasional glass of red OK for my baby?’ I suspect it’s probably fine, especially since a cluster of birth defects known as foetal alcohol syndrome are most likely to occur with ‘heavy’ alcohol use during pregnancy (more than four drinks a day).

But some unsettling research – including a comprehensive review of all the studies done in 2009 by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health – has linked lower IQ and poor motor skills to as little as one drink a day during pregnancy.

Admittedly, the quality of such research is poor, since the studies done so far were with small numbers and didn’t control for extraneous variables such as lower socioeconomic grouping, smoking and other drug use. But, as it’s pretty unethical to set up a trial to comprehensively study this issue, it might be a while before we get good solid data.

Meanwhile, without an iron-clad guarantee that you won’t hurt your baby if you drink when pregnant, I’ll continue to support the teetotal guideline.”