Moderate Drinking During Pregnancy Does Not Harm Fetal Neurodevelopment

There have been endless debates on whether or not a woman should consume alcohol during pregnancy. Several studies have revealed the downsides of alcohol consumption by mums-to-be. Despite this, a growing number of pregnant women are shunning the policy of avoiding alcohol.

Reigniting the debate over how much alcohol is considered safe to drink while expecting, a latest finding states that moderate drinking during pregnancy does not cause any harm to baby's neurodevelopment.

The new study conducted by the researchers at the University of Bristol says that consuming three to seven glasses of alcohol a week does not cause any damage to the fetal neurodevelopment reports press release.

However, the researchers argue that social advantage may have an influence, as affluent and highly educated mums tend to consume more alcohol during pregnancy when compared to those who are less well off.

To proceed with the study, the researchers assessed the prime indicator of prenatal development i.e. they assessed the ability to balance in almost 7,000 ten year olds who had enrolled in the University of Bristol's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which has been tracking the long term health of 14,000 children who were born between 1991 and 1992.

The test required them to walk on a beam; and assessed their static balance that is heel to toe balance on a beam in which they had to stand on one leg for 20 seconds once with eyes open and then with eyes closed. Each participant was permitted  two attempts.

This balance assessment was taken by the 10 year old whose mothers consumed alcohol at the 18^th week and after giving birth. Apart from the mother's even the dad's alcohol consumption details were taken. They were asked how much alcohol they consumed when their partners were 3 months pregnant.

Nearly half of the men said that they drank just one or more glasses per week and one in five reported drinking one or more glasses a day.

Nearly 70 percent of the kid's mothers didn't consume alcohol while expecting while one in four drank between one to two glasses. Some 4.5 percent of mothers drank 7-8 glasses a week out of which one in seven were counted as binge drinkers i.e. four or more glasses at any one time.

It was found that children of middle-class women who drank during pregnancy were slightly better at the balance assessment test than children of mothers who had abstained from alcohol.

Socio-economic status was also seen to influence alcohol consumption. Affluent mothers were found to be moderate drinkers, whereas working class mothers abstained from drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

"Most of the women in this study either didn't drink at all or if they did drink, they didn't drink very much. There weren't many heavy drinkers. We know that heavy drinking during pregnancy has bad effects on a developing foetus," Professor John Macleod, from the University of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine, lead author of the study told The Guardian.

The study was published in the Journal BMJ Open.