Moderate drinking during pregnancy 'does not harm baby's development'

[alp227]

Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 18 June 2013 01.00 EDT

Drinking in moderation through pregnancy does not harm a baby's neurodevelopment, according to new research.

Children whose mothers consumed the equivalent of a glass of wine a day were able to balance as well as those who had not been exposed to alcohol in the womb.

Almost 7,000 10-year-olds were asked to take part in balance tests, which are an indicator of prenatal neurodevelopment.

The drinking habits of their mothers had been recorded during and after pregnancy, with those who drank three to seven glasses of alcohol a week classed as moderate drinkers.

But social advantage could be a large factor in the findings, as the research found mothers who were more affluent and better educated were more likely to drink in moderation. Mothers from a working-class background were more likely to abstain from alcohol through pregnancy, to drink heavily or binge drink.

Professor John Macleod, from the University of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine, led the study, which has been published by the journal BMJ Open.

"Most of the women in this study either didn't drink at all or if they did drink, they didn't drink very much," he said.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/18/drinking-moderation-pregnancy-baby-development

abstract: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/6/e002718.abstract?sid=732518fd-e474-4186-ba84-77e81bdda137

[Electric Monk]

1. Most of the women in this study either didn't drink at all... nt

[d_r]

2. there is ample evidence

from longitudinal studies that moderate drinking during pregnancy can have lasting impact on IQ scores. But one study, that confounds SES, finds no difference in balance test at age 10, and the headline is Moderate drinking during pregnancy 'does not harm baby's development.'

That seems very cavalier to me.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I don't think an occasional glass of wine or a beer

will hurt anything. I've known plenty of women who did that and their pregnancies went along just fine. I used to be a bartender, and I would serve pregnant women sometimes, although some of my co-workers refused to do it. None of them ever had more than two drinks and I didn't see the harm. Pregnancy is so stressful that I think a glass of wine can actually be good for the woman if it will help her relax a little and get her mind off her situation, even if only for a little while.

[fasttense]

4. All things in moderation

Anything can be dangerous if overdone. Moderation is an important life lesson.

[Fuddnik]

5. Back in the mid-70's, my sisters Dr. told her to have about 2 glasses of wine per day.

[xmas74]

8. That explains so much about my old high school classmates. nt

[1-Old-Man]

6. Also: Drinking alcohol turns anyone who does it into an instant idiot.

It took me decades and decades to come to understand it but finally I came to realize that there is no reason in the world to listen to a single word a person who has been drinking says.

[Heywood J]

9. Yep, having a drink at the ball game with my nachos made me "an instant idiot."

Same with that six-pack I keep in the fridge for when company comes over. It's the end of world peace as we know it, now in convenient bottle form! When does the hatchet come out, Mr. Nation?

[Logical]

7. Why risk it? n-t

[gulliver]

10. Um...the study is about "balance" but the Guardian article...

...seems to generalize it to "development."