IS MILD-MODERATE DRINKING IN PREGNANCY HARMLESS? NEW EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE TO THE OPPOSITE
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Abstract
During the last decade a growing number of studies have failed to detect adverse neurodevelopmental effects of mild –to moderate maternal drinking in the exposed child, supporting a climate that “some drinking in pregnancy is OK”.
A recent experimental study in sheep, mimicking conditions of moderate drinking in the third trimester of pregnancy, provides powerful evidence that there are serious lifelong risks to fetal exposure to alcohol. These should serve as an alarm call to those who legitimize mild-moderate maternal drinking based on incomplete data.
References
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2. Jones KL, Smith DW. The fetal alcohol syndrome. Teratology 1975;12: 1–10.
3. Russell M, Martier SS, Sokol RJ, Mudar P, Jacobson S, et al. Detecting risk drinking during pregnancy: a comparison of four screening questionnaires. Am J Public Health 1996;86: 1435–1439.
4. Henderson J, Gray R, Brocklehurst P. Systematic review of effects of low–moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on pregnancy outcome. BJOG 2007;114:243–252.
5. Zelner I, Kenna K, Brien JF, Bocking A, Harding R, Walker D, Koren G. Meconium fatty acid ethyl esters as biomarkers of late gestational ethanol exposure and indicator of ethanol-induced multi-organ injury in fetal sheep. PLoS One 2013; 8(3): e59168.