Drinking While Pregnant: Is Any Alcohol Safe During Pregnancy?

The CDC advises that there is no safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy and that individuals need to avoid it altogether. The CDC suggests that up to 1 standard drink per day is not known to harm the infant, especially if a person waits at least 2 hours before nursing. However, higher alcohol levels can interfere with the letdown reflex that ejects milk and may cause the child to have sleep issues. Research suggests that 2 hours after drinking, alcohol levels in the fetus are similar to the person who ingested it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise that there is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant.

There have been a number of publicized statements on alcohol use and pregnancy in the past year. The following are answers to common questions about alcohol and pregnancy. Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report are service marks of the U.S. Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.

Effects of Alcohol on the Fetus’s Development

There is no known amount of alcohol that is safe to consume while pregnant and the more you drink, the more you will increase the risk that your baby will have problems. According to the Surgeon General, the type of drinking that creates the greatest risk of FASD’s is binge drinking (drinking more than 5 drinks at one time), or drinking seven or more drinks in one week. If it is hard for you to stop drinking, talk with your healthcare provider about getting help. Options for pregnant women include behavioral treatments and mutual-support groups. Your healthcare provider may be able to help you determine the best option for you. I also use this opportunity to discuss how much they normally drink and to educate them about the risks of drinking during pregnancy.

• Two studies from 2021 support the idea that alcohol consumption during pregnancy isn’t a good idea – both for the overall outcome of the pregnancy and for fetal neurodevelopment.
• However, in some instances, the effects of heavy drinking on your baby cannot be reversed.
• I assure them there is little evidence to suggest that they harmed their pregnancy.
• The effects of binge drinking depend on whether it occurs during a critical stage of organ formation.
• We weigh risks and benefits of using anti-nausea medications or other drugs during pregnancy.
• SAMHSA Treatment Locator — FindTreatment.gov
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a treatment facility locator.

It may not be as difficult as you think to avoid alcohol completely during pregnancy. Drinking during pregnancy can cause your baby to develop a serious life-long condition called foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink, the greater the risk.

The risks involved with alcohol use during pregnancy

It looks at whether it is safe to drink alcohol during pregnancy and how it affects the unborn baby. While this would seem to suggest that low-level alcohol consumption is safe during pregnancy, there are other factors to consider. First, while the study included 1,600 women, that’s still a relatively small sample size. Second, children’s brains are still developing at age 5, and the full effects that alcohol may have had on them may not yet be measurable. Whatever the risks, many moms-to-be are choosing not to totally give up alcohol.

I am not sure how we got to the point that in May 2016, New York City had to clarify guidelines prohibiting bars and restaurants from refusing to serve alcohol to pregnant women. The guidelines – which also apply to selling and serving foods such as soft cheeses and raw fish – are intended to discourage discrimination against pregnant women. People who are nursing can speak with a healthcare professional about how much alcohol is safe to drink.

Alcohol and Pregnancy: Is ‘A Little Bit’ Safe?

You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. “Think about activities where drinking isn’t central to what you do,” says Morgan. “For example, if you would usually head to the pub, make a point of suggesting meeting friends at the cinema or at a Christmas market.” Your baby does not have a fully developed liver and cannot process alcohol.

You could have one child that is born healthy and another child born with problems. Some intellectual and behavioral problems related to FASD may not be apparent initially and can appear at any time during childhood. Women make decisions about risks and outcomes for our health and the health alcohol during pregnancy of our children all the time. We decide what contraception to use based on our acceptance of the risk of an unintended pregnancy. We weigh risks and benefits of using anti-nausea medications or other drugs during pregnancy. Some pregnant women tell me they feel judged when they have a drink.

Having a drink during pregnancy is a personal decision

Because babies are small compared to adults, alcohol breaks down much more slowly than in a grown person. This means that alcohol remains in a baby’s blood much longer than in the blood of its mother thus leading to possible irreversible harm to the baby’s development. A developing baby is exposed to the same concentration as the mother during pregnancy. There is no known safe amount of alcohol consumption for women who are pregnant, including early in pregnancy when a woman may not know that she is pregnant.