Moreover, definitions of light, moderate and heavy drinking can vary enormously. Investigators who consider light drinking to be up to a drink a day tend to conclude that the practice is more harmful than those who say light drinking means up to one drink a week. (The alcohol content in “one drink” can also differ.) And many studies are based on an “average” number of drinks per time interval, which can lump together dramatically different drinking patterns—for example, imbibing one a week and binging on five in one night in a month. And yet, Day says, “there’s a lot of literature that shows that binge drinking may have a bigger effect.” One 2009 study, for example, tied a single binge during pregnancy to hyperactivity and attention problems in children. Most studies of periodic light drinking, on the other hand, find that it has no effects.
Teasing Out the Truth
Because individual studies so often conflict, coming to a consensus about how much alcohol—if any—is safe for an expectant mother is a tall order. Nevertheless, one psychologist couple, Sandra and Joseph Jacobson of Wayne State University, has assessed a good deal of the published literature in an attempt to answer the question. They say that no obvious neurobiological deficits have been detected in children whose mothers consume less than one drink a day during pregnancy. Still, the data do not prove that a drink a day in pregnancy is without effect, Sandra Jacobson warns; it could be that researchers have not been looking at the right outcomes or that their tools are too insensitive to pick up any changes.
Gray believes the latter to be true. Although he and his colleagues have found that moderate drinking during pregnancy (which they define as an average of two to six drinks a week) has no overall effect on child IQ at age eight—the kids of the drinking moms in his cohort actually had higher IQs than the abstainers’ kids—they did find, using a new genetic technique, some potential for harm.
Humans have multiple genes for proteins that break alcohol down into harmless by-products. Some people have mutations in these genes, causing alcohol to linger in their bloodstream. In a November 2012 paper Gray and his colleagues reported that the more mutations children of maternal drinkers have in these genes, the lower their IQs are. (The effect is weak; the IQs of children with four mutations were only 3.5 points lower than those of kids with two.) More important, however, the mutations have no effect on the IQ of children born to nondrinking women, suggesting that there is at least a minimal danger to prenatal drinking for certain individuals.
Because of such findings and all the other uncertainties, policy makers are unlikely to ever give the green light to occasional drinking during pregnancy. “We will never, ever, ever know how much is safe for every individual,” says biologist Kathleen K. Sulik of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. What is harmless for a woman of one race, weight, nutritional status and genetic background may be dangerous for another. That said, the literature is reassuring to the many women who socially drank before realizing they were pregnant and to those who, like me, had one celebratory glass.
Better Safe Than Sorry. K. K. Sulik, S. K. O’Leary-Moore and E. P. Riley in British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 119, No. 10, pages 1159–1161; September 2012.
The Effect of Different Alcohol Drinking Patterns in Early to Mid Pregnancy on the Child’s Intelligence, Attention, and Executive Function. U. S. Kesmodel et al. in British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 119, No. 10, pages 1180–1190; September 2012.
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Add CommentI see a lot of articles and studies about this subject. All discuss the amounts of alcohol that may or may not be harmful to a fetus.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've never seen an article asking why, since we know alochol is a teratogen (that it mutates cells), and that in the process of metabolizing alcohol, all of us produce the chemical acetaldehyde (a toxin)--- why can't we just skip the drinking?
Why--- for 9 months-- can't we just be safe, rather than sorry? How precarious are our emotional lives? Why don't we, instead of this flurry of activity focused on determining the safety of alcohol, work to make this world a place from which we don't need to escape?
Your body also produces formaldehyde, as a byproduct of cell division. The acetaldehyde produced during drinking is then converted reasonably quickly into acetic acid, mostly harmless.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTeratogens cause birth defects, not necessarily cellular mutations. Your parenthetical describes mutagens, not teratogens.
You would not see such an article on this site, since it would be an opinion piece, or it would be sufficiently removed from the question "Why can't we just skip the drinking" to be no longer an article about that subject.
Not all drinking is done to escape, since alcoholic beverages are also often delicious in their own right, or used in food to provide flavors that aren't easily obtained otherwise. The associated feelings with a glass of wine at dinner are not of washing away emotions, but of relaxation, since unless you consume nearly no alcohol, a single glass of wine, with food, only every once in a while, will not shut down your brain or impair you very much at all.
The sort of blackout drinking you seem to be referring to is certainly teratogenic, but, if changing behaviors is not going to have a positive effect, why should an occasional drinker stop due to drinking to excess being harmful? It's something that quite a few people never do.
An example: Drinking to excess after a child is born leads to developmental problems due to neglect. Are you suggesting, since drinking has been established to create neglectful situations, that no parent should ever consume alcohol while their children are in their care?
The most obvious data that reveals our excessive fear of this issue comes from history. Prior to the 1980's most if not all of us were born of moderate drinking parents, (moderate probably is an understatement by todays standards). Yet we were not flooded with children with behavioral deficits. Consequently the effect of very modest drinking during pregnancy must be minimal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso note that the onslaught of children with behavioral deficits begins after the much more frequent drug abusing "boomers" began having their children. Granted diagnostic criteria for such diagnoses have change over the years and that does account for some of the epidemic. However one has to wonder about the effects of street drugs and their impact on behavior problems in children. Particularly since we seem hell bent to legalize some.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Ms. Petunia is not the sort of person who enjoys a random beer or glass of wine, and has also never been pregnant. I am currently both of those things, and while 99% of the time, I am fine with eschewing alcohol, I missed it dreadfully over the holidays. New Year's Eve is just another night without champagne, and no, sparkling cider is *not* an appropriate substitution. It is sickly sweet and disgusting.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPregnant women are put under *SO* many dietary restrictions these days (my mother made me look it up on the Internet to prove to her that feta cheese and cold cuts are off limits), that it begins to feel like you're doing some kind of religious penance. Every move you make during pregnancy is tied with some kind of existential guilt. I must exercise, but not too much. I must eat protein, but not too much. I must eat seafood, but not too much. I must worry, but not too much. I must take my vitamins, but not too many. It's insane the level of stress the medical community puts on us for these nine blessed months. My mother--who downhill skied every weekend through her eighth month of carrying me--is gobsmacked every time I tell her of some new restriction placed upon me by my doctors (and yes, I am perfectly healthy, these are not unusual).
Sharing a cheeky, small glass of wine with my husband and family on Christmas was a bright spot amid all the poking, prodding, back pain, and bland lunches. And I for one have decided that the two small glasses of wine I have consumed over the course of nearly five months were worth the gamble.
These articles that say things like "the chance of x is doubled", without providing any numbers, is just not helpfull. Doubling the probability of something that has a .001 percent chance of occuring is still a very small risk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSymptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBy Mayo Clinic staff
Fetal alcohol syndrome isn't a single birth defect. It's a cluster of related problems and the most severe of a group of consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure. Collectively, the range of disorders is known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a common — yet preventable — cause of mental retardation. The severity of mental problems varies, with some children experiencing them to a far greater degree than others.
Signs of fetal alcohol syndrome may include:
Distinctive facial features, including small eyes, an exceptionally thin upper lip, a short, upturned nose, and a smooth skin surface between the nose and upper lip
Deformities of joints, limbs and fingers
Slow physical growth before and after birth
Vision difficulties or hearing problems
Small head circumference and brain size (microcephaly)
Poor coordination
Mental retardation and delayed development
Learning disorders
Abnormal behavior, such as a short attention span, hyperactivity, poor impulse control, extreme nervousness and anxiety
Heart defects
The facial features seen with fetal alcohol syndrome may also occur in normal, healthy children. Distinguishing normal facial features from those of fetal alcohol syndrome requires expertise.
Doctors may use other terms to describe some of the signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. An alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder is a mental or behavioral impairment that occurs as a result of fetal exposure to alcohol. Alcohol-related birth defects are physical defects that occur from fetal alcohol exposure.
When to see a doctor
If you're pregnant and can't stop drinking, ask your obstetrician or other health care provider for help.
Because early diagnosis may help reduce the risk of long-term problems for children with FAS, let your child's doctor know if you drank alcohol while you were pregnant. Don't wait for problems to arise before seeking help.
If you've adopted a child or are providing foster care, you may not know if your child's biological mother drank alcohol while pregnant — and it may not initially occur to you that your child may have fetal alcohol syndrome. However, if your child has learning and behavioral problems, talk with your child's doctor so that the underlying cause might be identified.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-alcohol-syndrome/DS00184/DSECTION=symptoms
Speaking as a retired addictions counselor who has studied this stuff, and experienced it for nearly four decades, I just don't know. I don't think anyone does. Granted, the vast majority of pregnant women who drink very moderately, or who eat feta cheese, or even who smoke, do not bear children with serious or even noticeable effects resulting from these behaviors.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat we don't know about are the possible effects that are not at all obvious but that may have a negative impact on the child's life.
One does not either have FAS or not. There are all manner of manifestations that range from totally disabled to "not readily noticeable" but which still may have a negative impact. And we imagine that some parents and children will be much more sensitive than others.
Bottom line: we just don't know so the best choice is probably not to take the chance in the first place. Anyone who can't make it through nine months without the use of a psychoactive drug might want to see an addictions counselor before risking pregnancy.
True, that might be uncomfortable, but so is living with the guilt of realizing that your choices during pregnancy may have effected your child for life. I've seen a bit of that. It's not pretty.
I understand people's concerns about alcohol abuse but I think you have it exactly right. It seems so simple to understand that before the '70s we didn't create entire generations of mutant simpletons despite the fact that the majority of mothers drank moderately.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy, then, is it so hard to understand that moderate drinking is not the bugaboo it has been made out to be? Oh, wait, I forgot that we are living in the era where "if it only saves 1" and "we must make life Completely Safe" are the standards by which we must live.
For all of us in the Boomer Generation who steered our society toward these norms, I heartily apologize. I know we meant well, but: What were we thinking?
I have social anxiety disorder. When going to a wedding, my doctor actually told me having a glass of wine would be better form me then abstaining because I was not comfortable taking any psychiatric medication which would definitely harm the fetus. Extreme stress can cause hormones which are harmful to a child. Some women may have a reason for light drinking when pregnant. Everyone is different.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, a woman may not always know that she is pregnant during the first trimester. There are a lot or reasons for not abstaining, but none for judging the decisions that a woman makes along with her doctor.
In developed countries, the teratogen that cuases the most widespread damage to prenatal development is alcohol. Although it used to be believed that moderate alcohol use would cuase no harm during pregnancy, recent research has shown that the only safe amount of alcohol for a pregnant woman is none at all.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes, what is the big deal about abstaining for nine months? If you cannot give all to having healthy children, might consider supporting zero population dutifully.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince everyone creates alcohol in their body, the amount created shouldn't be harmful for a fetus. But can we say that the amount added by a drinking mother is safe? I'm only asking the question. I have no definitive answers.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeems like booze is a little too important to some people here. Yes, it can be tasty. It helps to relax. A few drinks a week does not make you an alcoholic. But if the thought of abstaining for nine months (not that long, really) is that terrifying to you that you'd rather risk harming your child, I don't think you have a healthy relationship with alcohol.
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