Is It OK to Drink Alcohol While Pregnant? 10 Things You Should Know

Here are the facts. By Nina Bahadur, SELF Image: Jocelyn Runice for SELF On Feb. 1, the CDC released new guidelines urging women of childbearing age to avoid drinking alcohol unless they are using contraception. This new guideline is designed to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), which are caused by a fetus being exposed to alcohol in utero. FASD is a 100 percent preventable condition. According to the CDC, more than 3.3 million U.S. women are at risk of exposing a developing fetus to alcohol because they drink, are sexually active, and don't use birth control and are therefore at risk for an unplanned pregnancy. Furthermore, three in four women who would like to get pregnant as soon as possible report drinking. "Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant," Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a statement. "About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won't know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking. The risk is real. Why take the chance?" This recommendation is the latest of many moves to educate women about FASD. For instance, all alcohol bottles are labeled with a government warning about drinking during pregnancy, which was made mandatory by the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) was passed in 1988. In the 1980s, physicians who had once advised pregnant women that they should have a ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news