Don’t drink alcohol if you’re pregnant, trying to get pregnant or think you may be pregnant. Keep up with the latest news in women’s mental health and our research. OTIS/MotherToBaby encourages inclusive and person-centered language. While our name still contains a reference to mothers, we are updating our resources with more inclusive terms. Use of the term mother or maternal refers to a person who is pregnant. Use of the term father or paternal refers to a person who contributes sperm. The myelination process is critical to brain and nervous system function.

• Scientists define a broad range of effects and symptoms caused by prenatal alcohol exposure under the umbrella term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders .
• The amount of time it takes for alcohol to leave a woman’s breast milk varies by how much was consumed, as well as body weight.
• Doctors and nurses will be able to provide information on what to expect during the first few weeks and months, as well as other safety tips.
• The study authors found that the fetal brains of drinkers were developing significantly slower than the brains of non-drinkers of the same gestational age.
• Some infants are required to stay in the hospital for weeks or months after their birth so medical staff can closely monitor their vitals.

Alcohol can cause problems for your baby at any time in pregnancy, even before you know you’re pregnant. Stopping alcohol use will improve the baby’s health and well-being.

Drinking while pregnant: What we know and what we don’t

The degree of effects of alcohol use during pregnancy may vary depending on the frequency of exposure to alcohol, dose, duration, genetic factors, maternal nutrition, and developmental stage of the fetus at exposure . Due to genetic and lifestyle factors, there may also have different outcomes from the same exposure . However, there is no currently assured exact dose-response relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed during the pregnancy and the degree of the problem or a risk threshold caused by alcohol in the infant . According to different studies, nobody knows the exact amount of alcohol that is potentially harmful to the developing baby in any trimester. Hence, researchers and health professionals recommend not drinking any amount of alcohol for pregnant women as well as women who are trying to get pregnant .

• Or you might be hiding the fact you are drinking alcohol because you fear being judged.
• Because of this, any woman who thinks she may be pregnant or is trying to become pregnant should not drink.
• When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the alcohol travels through her blood and into the baby’s blood, tissues, and organs.
• If you find Facts for Families© helpful and would like to make good mental health a reality, consider donating to the Campaign for America’s Kids.
• However, when these activities include alcohol, it can be a dangerous mix.
• Use of the term mother or maternal refers to a person who is pregnant.

We excluded 92 mother-infant pairs from the analysis due to missing appropriate birth outcome data (Fig. 1). About 1 in 13 pregnant women in the United States reports alcohol use in the past 30 days. And about 1 in 71 pregnant women in the United States reports binge drinking in the past 30 days .

Alcohol during pregnancy

Other studies suggest pregnant women who have an occasional drink don’t harm themselves or their baby. A 2012 Danish study, for example, found that low to moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy did not affect executive functioning among 5-year-olds. Executive functioning is a catchall term that describes the ability to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, remembering details, and managing time. Women were enrolled alcohol during pregnancy and a baseline interview was executed if they were in the first 2 weeks of the third trimester or 28th weeks of gestational age. The postpartum interview was carried out following delivery, typically in the health facility during the postpartum stay or within 48 h of delivery. All mother-newborns pairs in Gondar town were a source population, and pregnant women who were sampled in the selected health facilities were the study participants.

Additionally, the findings of this study suggest that women and partners would like to have been given more information on why drinking in pregnancy is harmful by health professionals. It was noted by participants in the study that health professionals, particularly midwives, might encourage the use of wine not only for stress relief, but as a benefit to the developing baby. It was also discussed among participants that wine would be the most socially acceptable type of alcoholic beverage to consume during a pregnancy, especially in comparison to spirits and hard liquor. This is in keeping with previous research which has suggested that pregnant women were more likely to consume wine as their alcohol of choice . Another theme that emerged from the data and of which there is little previous research, is the issue of moderation. Moreover, several participants felt that there was an overwhelming amount of information to process during pregnancy, particularly with regards to diet and nutrition; this was often very challenging to understand.

Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

This is when a baby is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a treatment facility locator. This locator helps people find drug and alcohol treatment programs in their area. Avoiding prenatal care such as doctor appointments and taking nutrients. 10 Ways To Help An Alcoholic Family MemberEven though things may seem helpless, they aren’t. 5 Risks When Drinking Alcohol In The Summer SunSummer is a wonderful time to go outside and enjoy outdoor activities.

Other participants had more awareness and listed physical consequences, such as low birth weight, abnormal facial features, and poor growth as some of the more commonly known effects. Almost half, (49.23%) of the study participants had one or two children.

Exposure ascertainment and alcohol use measures

Lastly, differences might also be due to genetic variations linked to the metabolism of alcohol that may differ between populations . How clear is the medical evidence supporting strict abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy?

Children who are suspected of FASDs must be carefully evaluated by a pediatrician, child and adolescent psychiatrist or other medical or mental health clinician. Fetal alcohol exposure is often missed as the cause of the problems in a child’s behavior. The effects of alcohol on the developing brain during pregnancy are not reversible. However, early intervention can improve the chances of success for the child. Examples of early interventions for FASDs include occupational therapy, special educational services starting as early as preschool, mental health evaluation and support and speech therapy services.