Even small amounts of alcohol risky during pregnancy

Even small amounts of alcohol can negatively impact a developing fetus, especially right at the end of the first trimester, say researchers at the University of California. That glass of wine can lead to physical anomalies, they say.

The researchers published their findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Between 1978 and 2005, they asked 992 pregnant women how much alcohol they consumed after every three months. The results were surprising and, it's fair to say, quite alarming: for each drink a pregnant woman had between days 43 and 84 of their pregnancies, the risk of having a baby with a low birth weight increased 16 fold!

What's more, every unit also increased the chance of a cleft palate by 25 percent, the risk of having a very thin upper lip by 22 percent, and the risk of having an abnormally small head by 12 percent.

This research team only examined the possible physical consequences of the use of small amounts of alcohol during the nine months of pregnancy; they didn't look at alcoholic mothers and the specific risks alcohol abuse pose, or at psychological consequences of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. What they did say is that there is no safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy. In other words, women who are expecting a baby are advised to refrain from drinking alcohol altogether, and even more so during the first trimester.What do you think about this? Are you trying to conceive or already pregnant? If you're a mom, did you drink any alcohol during pregnancy, and what are your thoughts now if you did?

I'm torn between thinking it's good to do everything in our power to ensure our babies have the best possible start in life, and thinking the trend of health paranoia during pregnancy may be causing problems all by itself no mercury containing fish, but don't be a vegetarian either. Eat organic, beware of radiation-emitting laptops, and exercise but don't exercise after all? Ugh. Pregnancy can be a bit complicated. With alcohol though, I think it is safe to say that there are no risks to not drinking any :).