BMA says no alcohol for pregnant women

Jun 5 2007

The British Medical Association (BMA) says far more babies may be damaged in the womb as a result of their mother drinking alcohol than has been assumed.

The BMA is calling for clearer guidance on alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The call follows recent warning by the Department of Health that alcohol should be avoided by pregnant women or those trying to conceive, or limited to no more than one to two units once or twice a week.

According to the BMA the new advice from the British government is in dispute with some medical experts who believe it is not safe to drink any alcohol during pregnancy or when planning a pregnancy.

The BMA wants clear, evidence-based guidelines on alcohol consumption during pregnancy and for women who are planning a pregnancy; they say many individuals do not understand what represents a unit and how it relates to what they are drinking.

The BMA says bottles of wine have risen from 8% to 12% proof and measures of wine and spirits vary considerably in pubs and restaurants.

The BMA is calling for all bottles of alcohol and pub and restaurant drinks to be labelled with the number of units they contain.

The BMA says evidence is continuing to emerge on the effects of low or moderate prenatal alcohol exposure.

The National Organisation on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome says more than 6,000 children are born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) each year in Britain, which can result in abnormal facial features and causes a range of problems, including physical, mental and behavioural issues.

As only babies with full-blown foetal alcohol syndrome tend to be diagnosed and counted by doctors in the UK, experts suggest the impact of alcohol on the foetus is under-reported.

The BMA wants more data to be collected on a much wider and sometimes less obvious category of damage, called foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Babies born with the spectrum of disorders have some but not all of the problems that foetal alcohol syndrome incurs such as hyperactivity, poor concentration, a short attention span and developmental delays.

Research has been already produced evidence that alcohol reaches the foetus across the placental barrier, and low levels of exposure to alcohol have an effect in animals.