A Glass of Wine Each Week during Pregnancy Creates more Emotionally-Stable Children

Alcohol and pregnancy don't typically go together (or at least, let's say, they shouldn't.) Yet a recent study suggests that if expectant mothers indulge in a glass of wine of week during pregnancy, they could have better behaved children.

According to lead study author Janni Niclasen of the University of Copenhagen, she discovered that women who consumed 90 units of alcohol were more emotionally stable and better-behaved than those that did not. Of course, this is certainly not an invitation to drink alcohol during pregnancy, but it does take an interesting twist on what is good, ok and bad for women and their child during those nine months. The study involved 100,000 pregnant Danish women who were interviewed at four separate occasions regarding their alcohol consumption-twice in pregnancy, once when their child was six months old and again when they turned seven.

"My study shows, among other things, that the children of mothers who drank small quantities of alcohol - 90 units or more - during their pregnancies show significantly better emotional and behavioral outcomes at age seven compared to children of mothers who did not drink at all," Niclasen said, via a press release.

"At first sight this makes no sense, since alcohol during pregnancy is not seen as beneficial to child behavior. But when you look at the lifestyle of the mothers, you find an explanation."

Findings showed that mothers who drank 90 units or more of alcohol actually tended to be more educated and had healthier lifestyles, also.

However, the authors note that the study only looked at women who consumed small quantities of alcohol during pregnancy. Hence the findings should certainly not apply to binge drinking during pregnancy.

More information regarding the study can be found here.