Buzz
A recent study on alcohol consumption during pregnancy has sparked conflicting reports: while some news outlets claim moderate drinking is harmless, others caution against it entirely. Unfortunately, this topic isn’t as lighthearted as some might hope.
The Headline: Clarification: A Little Alcohol During Pregnancy Isn’t Safe (Refinery29)
The Story: Despite what Refinery29 may suggest, it’s still not acceptable to drink during pregnancy, even in small amounts. I can empathize with the desire for a drink—during my last pregnancy, I spent the final month searching for the best pumpkin beers and crafting my own infused spirits to enjoy once my baby arrived. Regrettably, this recent research does not grant expectant parents permission to indulge early.
Here’s the bottom line: Even before this study, it was well-established that alcohol poses significant risks to a developing baby. These include mental and behavioral impairments, as well as malformations in major organ systems.
Consuming large amounts of alcohol leads to serious problems, and as the quantities decrease, the consequences appear less severe. This makes sense. Naturally, we hope there’s a point where a small amount of alcohol causes no harm. One drink per day might be excessive, but what about one per week? Or perhaps just one throughout the entire pregnancy?
The issue is that we simply don’t have enough data to determine which of these two possibilities is true:
Perhaps light drinking is harmless to babies.
Perhaps light drinking has some small negative effects, but we haven’t conducted studies sensitive enough to detect those impacts.
When you observe your child who seems to have turned out fine after you drank a few times, you can’t be certain whether the child might have been a bit smarter or healthier if you had refrained from drinking. Even in large studies, we still lack conclusive proof either way. Additionally, very few studies have followed children who were exposed to alcohol long enough to track their development through school age, so the available evidence doesn’t paint a complete picture.
So, what role does this new study play? Essentially, it confirms that the difference between zero alcohol and the definitely harmful levels is extremely small, if it even exists. The researchers reviewed 24 studies and found that babies were more likely to be born prematurely or smaller than expected if mothers consumed more than 32 grams of alcohol per week. This is just slightly more than two glasses of wine per week.
The study suggests that pregnant individuals should not exceed 32 grams of alcohol per week. However, it remains unclear whether consuming less than this amount poses any risks.
The Key Takeaway: This research did not redefine the threshold for 'safe' drinking. We now understand that drinking two alcoholic beverages per week may be harmful, and drinking any less is still a risky choice. Avoiding alcohol entirely remains the safest option. (Apologies once again.)
