Researchers in Ireland have recently disclosed in their study that women who drink even small amounts of alcohol during their pregnancy may end up harming the unborn baby!

According to the study, which observed the drinking habits of 60,000 mothers-to-be in Dublin between 2000 and 2007, even low levels of alcohol – nearly 5 units per week or two glasses of wine – may be associated with foetal alcohol syndrome, which can result in mental and physical abnormalities, learning disabilities, and stunted growth.

The new study contradicts an earlier study, on the same subject, published in October last year. The University College London study had observed 11,000 five-year-olds and had arrived at the conclusion that there was “no increase in developmental difficulties associated with light drinking during pregnancy.”

But the new study now establishes that alcohol passes from the mother through the placenta to the foetus, which is unable to process the alcohol quickly; thereby resulting in a much longer exposure to the effects of alcohol.

Noting that women might be underestimating or under-reporting how much they actually drank when they are pregnant, lead researcher Professor Deidre Murphy said that the new study stresses the need for “improved detection of alcohol misuse in pregnancy” as well as an early intervention so that risks to the developing foetus can be minimized!