Pop the Champagne: Small Amounts of Alcohol Okay in Pregnancy

Never being one for scare tactics, I’m happy to see that finally some research is being done on the warnings given to pregnant women.  The pregnancy books are full of things not to be done during the nine months of gestation, but have you ever wondered why we received those recommendations?  Yeah, me too.

Thankfully, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are making headway with unlocking the secrets of women’s health and pregnancy.  Recently, they have rejected the long-held belief that mild alcohol consumption during pregnancy, meaning a couple of glasses of wine once or twice a week, causes babies to develop learning difficulties and behavioral problems.

Furthermore, they state that:

“There is no evidence of harm from low levels of alcohol consumption, defined as no more than one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week.”

This is a good note in women’s health.  Giving research-based recommendations to women is not only a good idea, it’s necessary for healthy babies.  Subjecting women to scare tactics and empty ideas promotes the idea that we have a clue about how to make and deliver healthy babies when so much more science-based work needs to be done.   Bravo.

Read the full article: “Odd Drink in Pregnancy OK” by Sarah-Jane Templeton