There are numerous recommendations on avoiding alcoholic beverages in pregnant women because of the consequences it could have on the development of the fetus.
Whether or not there is a limit amount of safe consumption is cause for major debates, and new studies re-revive it. Five works published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology indicate that moderate alcohol consumption in pregnancy does not affect the child; Only a high intake (more than nine doses, 12 grams each) has negative consequences for children.
A study was conducted with more than 1,600 Danish women when they were pregnant and their alcohol intake was measured by classifying it as low, moderate, high and binge drinking. Some time later, the effects on the intelligence, attention, executive functions and self-control of the children at the age of five were analyzed.
They observed that no differences were found in the neuropsychological development of children of abstemious mothers and those of women who consumed low or moderate amounts of alcohol in the early stages of pregnancy. Nor when they had taken a 'binge'. They only found that the children of those who drank large amounts of alcoholic beverages had attention problems.
The children of women who drank between one and twelve glasses of alcohol a week (one unit = 12 grams) or who committed some excess are just as intelligent as those of mothers abstemious.
Even so, the recommendations on avoiding alcohol during pregnancy do not change. It is still recommended to avoid alcohol, it is impossible to know what is the safe level of consumption. The effects that drinking the same amount of alcohol can have varies from one woman to another, depending on the stage of pregnancy, her own physiology and alcohol tolerance.
But what the study tries is to change the idea of guilt of those women who have drunk alcohol occasionally or have committed some excess during the first weeks of pregnancy without even knowing they were pregnant.
Also, I think it is important to be aware of the effects of alcohol consumption, one of the most widespread is mental retardation in the baby. Since there is no security, and being a substance that crosses the placenta and can have irreversible consequences, prevention is always better.
