Drinking During Pregnancy OK? 1 in 8 Women Do It
The rules of motherhood may undergo a big change after one report claims that consuming alcohol while pregnant may actually have no effect on a child's development.
A new study has revealed that consuming small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy likely has no effect on child development despite the numerous amount of times that expecting mothers have been advised to drop the stuff cold turkey.
While the report is new, what may come as an even bigger surprise is the fact that women have long ago given up the idea that a glass or two of wine will do any serious damage.
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The new research, funded by the Center for Disease Control, was conducted in Denmark and included the study of over 1,600 5-year-olds whose mothers had consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
"There was a wide range of drinking behavior, with a little less than half of women refraining from alcohol," the NPR reported on the study. "The next biggest group had 1-4 drinks a week. About 175 women had 5 to 8 drinks a week. Only 20 of them drank 9 or more alcoholic beverages in a week."
That's more than just a small amount of alcohol for some, but researchers have concluded that even those who consumed a great amount of alcohol didn't appear to face a greater risk.
"We found no significant association of low to moderate average weekly alcohol consumption, and any binge drinking, during early to mid pregnancy with the neurodevelopment of children at the age of 5 years," researchers established in the study.
The results, however, are not yet conclusive and many ask who would take such a risk. The answer: more expecting mothers than you would think.
"A recent CDC study found that about one in eight pregnant women in the U.S. report drinking at least one alcoholic beverage in the past month," according to WebMD.
Other experts don't agree with what the study suggests. Pregnant women should completely "abstain" from drinking, Bruce Goldman, director of Substance Abuse Services at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. told Yahoo News.
"Those suffering from alcoholism may attempt to rationalize that it is safe to drink moderately, something they may ultimately be unable to do," Zucker said.
