Occasional drinks a risk to unborn, study claims

Researchers say they have found first solid evidence that even small amounts of alcohol can cause harm

WOMEN who drink even occasionally during pregnancy risk having children with poorer cognitive function and lower birth weight, a study found.

The most comprehensive review of health data and genetics ever undertaken suggests that alcohol at any stage of gestation risks harming the baby.

The chief medical officers in the UK recommend total abstinence, but acknowledge the advice is based on a precautionary principle, rather than good evidence that low-level drinking could harm the unborn child. It means many pregnant women continue to drink occasionally, believing it to be safe.

Now, although they cannot say exactly where the threshold for harm begins, scientists at the University of Bristol say their new study succeeds in “tipping the balance towards a more solid evidence base” that even small amounts of alcohol cause harm.

They say this is particularly the case for neurodevelopmental and behavioural problems.

Establishing cause and effect between prenatal alcohol exposure and subsequent harm is notoriously difficult because of the trouble in separating drinking from other factors.

These include a woman’s genetic make-up, education and family environment, all of which can affect her child’s development and cognition.

In an attempt to get round this, the Bristol team reviewed 23 published studies on drinking during pregnancy that differed radically in how they evaluated cause and effect.

Dr Luisa Zuccolo, who led the research, said: “The body of evidence for the harm that alcohol can do to children before they are born is growing, and our review is the first to look at the full range of studies on the issue.

“This is unlikely to be a fluke result, as we took into account a variety of approaches and results.”

Four in 10 British women drink in pregnancy, according to research published in The Lancet in 2017 that found the UK has one of the world’s highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Until now, the lack of good evidence for any harm as a result of occasional drinking has provoked fierce debate between those pushing for a precautionary approach, and those who argue it is “sexist” to warn women off alcohol based on such uncertain science.

But the new study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology,

“reinforces” the official advice, according to the Bristol team.

“This message is more important than ever, given recent research which shows the alcohol industry promoting confusing information about the real health implications of drinking during pregnancy,” said Dr Zuccolo.

However, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service claimed yesterday that the new study offered “no new evidence” of harm at lower levels of alcohol consumption.

Clare Murphy, the charity’s director of external affairs, said: “Child cognitive outcomes are complex and focusing on what a woman did or didn’t do in pregnancy to explain educational attainment is unlikely to give us the answers we want, while at the same time creating a burden of maternal guilt and anxiety which doesn’t really help anyone.”

‘The body of evidence for the harm that alcohol can do to children before they are born is growing’