What Happens If You Drink Before You Know You're Pregnant? New Research Has A Scary Answer

Trying to having a baby? You might want to hold off on that evening cocktail -- even if you're not sure whether you're pregnant yet. While we all know that drinking during pregnancy can inflict long-lasting damage on a baby, the effect of alcohol on a developing embryo before a woman knows she's pregnant has been less studied. Now, provocative new research on mice suggests that a mother's drinking -- even in the first three weeks of pregnancy -- may create changes in the genes of the embryo that can cause permanent damage. In light of the findings, the researchers suggest that women would be wise to cut back on drinking, or avoid alcohol altogether, as soon as they make the decision to get pregnant. "Our findings suggest that alcohol can harm fetus in early pregnancy, a time period when women are often not aware of their pregnancy," Dr. Nina Kaminen-Ahola, a biologist at the University of Helsinki and the study's lead author, told The Huffington Post in an email. "Therefore it would be good to decrease the alcohol consumption as soon as one plans to have a baby." However, it's too early to say how much alcohol consumption it would take to harm a human fetus during early pregnancy, and more research is needed in order to provide specific guidelines. "It is important to remember, that this is a mouse, not a human study," Kaminen-Ahola said. In the study, the researchers fed alcohol to female mice who were at a stage of pregnancy that is equivalent to three to four wee...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news