How a weekly glass of red could boost a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant

DRINKING red wine at least once a week can biologically improve a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant.

Research has revealed that hopeful mothers who regularly drank red wine had better ovarian reserve – the quantity of eggs present in the ovaries at any one time. The findings of the Washington University study challenge Government guidance, which advises women to avoid alcohol when trying to conceive, for fear of harming the baby.

British experts said wider research was required before changing the advice given in this country. Recent debates over pregnancy and alcohol have tended to attack the guidance as “patronising”, with critics claiming it lacked a thorough evidential basis. The figures, from a study of 135 women, presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine congress in Texas, showed that, while red wine appears to be helpful, white wine, beer and spirits were not linked to higher fertility prospects.

The researchers said the link may be down to resveratrol, an anti-inflammatory compound which occurs in higher concentrations in red wine.

Professor Adam Balen, of the British Fertility Society, said: “It is an interesting idea that a small amount of red wine might be positively associated with ovarian reserve.

“However, we have to remember that the exposure of the developing foetus to alcohol may cause irreversible developmental damage and so alcohol consumption should be less than six units per week for women wishing to conceive.” In 2013, a larger study indicated that drinking wine may reduce a woman’s chances of conceiving when trying for a baby using IVF, but doctors said more regular drinking may not itself be driving lower fertility, citing other factors such as stress.

Around 84 per cent of couples in the UK conceive naturally within a year if they have unprotected sex every two or three days, according to the NHS. This leaves around 3.5 million people who have difficulty conceiving. Critics of the research have pointed out that the study involved a small group of women and ignored ethnicity and diet.

Dr Channa Jayasena, a clinical senior lecturer and consultant at Imperial College and Hammersmith Hospital, London, said that while it was “tempting to tell women rush out and drink red wine”, they should not do so just on the basis of this study.