‘No drinking’ rule is flimsy

How much alcohol is safe for a pregnant woman to drink? For a question that affects so many people, surprisingly little research has been done, health experts who reviewed the scant evidence said last week.

While there is widespread awareness of foetal alcohol syndrome, which can cause brain damage in unborn babies whose mothers drink, nobody knows how much it takes, or whether there is a safe limit for pregnant women to enjoy an occasional tipple. A trawl for research on the topic found “a surprisingly limited number” of studies into low alcohol consumption during pregnancy, a team wrote in the journal BMJ Open. And given the “paucity of evidence”, the advice for now must remain “better safe than sorry”, the researchers concluded.

The team searched far and wide for data on pregnant women who had imbibed four units per week — a total of 32g or 40ml of pure alcohol — considered in Britain as “light” consumption.

A unit in Britain is about half a pint of beer, half a glass of wine, or half a shot of the hard stuff. The recommended British limit for adults is 14 units, but for pregnant women, the advice is complete abstinence. Guidelines differ between countries, but the issue is controversial.

According to the authors, up to 80% of mothers-to-be in Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia drink some alcohol while pregnant.

A study earlier this year in 11 European countries said that about 16% of expectant mothers overall reported drinking some alcohol, ranging from 29% in Britain, 27% in Russia and 21% in Switzerland, to just over 4% in Norway.

Earlier this year, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which offers assistance to pregnant women, urged officials not to “overstate the risks from consuming small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy”.

In France, winemakers took issue with the government over plans to enlarge a pregnancy alcohol warning on wine bottles, and activists took to social media to accuse the authorities of “terrorising” pregnant women.

The latest paper, based on a review of 26 studies with relevant data, does not resolve the lack of clarity. It found “some evidence” that drinking up to four units of alcohol per week may be associated with a higher risk of having a smaller baby or giving birth prematurely — but nothing conclusive.