No change to alcohol guidelines for pregnancy

Conclusion The results of this review found that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy was linked with a slightly increased risk of having a baby small for gestational age. However, there was no evidence for any other links, including any difference in the average birth weight of babies born to drinkers and non-drinkers. There are some important limitations of the research to note: • The evidence still doesn't prove that drinking directly increases the risk of a baby born small for gestational age. Studies were observational and varied widely in accounting for the extensive number of confounding factors that could be having an influence, such as maternal lifestyle and diet. And even when factors such as socioeconomic status were adjusted for, they may still have had some residual confounding effects. • Because studies were observational, it's hard to be certain of exact alcohol intake. It may have varied week to week, and many women may not have been able to accurately judge the number of units of alcohol they had. • As the authors acknowledge, there was little evidence available for many pregnancy and birth outcomes, and the studies weren't suitable for pooling. As such, we can't be sure that being small for gestational age – if this is a true risk – is the only one associated with drinking during pregnancy. The research generally supports the opinion that it's difficult to say what a "safe" amount of alcohol is for women who are pregnan...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Source Type: news