Alcohol and Pregnancy
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Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be harmful to you and your growing baby. Thus, the best course is not to drink at all during pregnancy.
Protect Your Baby
Some things — such as alcohol — can harm your baby’s health. The degree of harm depends on the amount of alcohol you drink, how often you drink, and when in pregnancy you drank alcohol. Early pregnancy, when many of the baby’s organs are forming, is a time to be extra careful.
Alcohol quickly reaches the fetus through your bloodstream. It crosses the placenta to the baby.
Harmful Effects
Alcohol may affect the baby in many ways.
Growth and Development
Drinking alcohol may cause a baby to be too small. Alcohol use also increases the chance of having a miscarriage or preterm baby.
Alcohol use can cause heart defects. It also may affect the brain.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a mixture of physical, mental and behavioral problems. Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most severe effect of drinking during pregnancy. Even a few drinks once in a while can put your baby at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome.
A baby with fetal alcohol syndrome may have:
* Short height or low weight
* Small head
* Problems with joints and limbs (such as club foot)
* Abnormal facial features
* Heart defect
Some babies are born with all of these problems. Others show signs of only some of them.
There is no cure for fetal alcohol syndrome.
Finally …
Doctors do not know how much alcohol it takes to harm the fetus. The best course is not to drink during pregnancy. This will give your baby the best start in life. It is not easy to decide to stop drinking. Keep in close touch with your doctor, and ask for help.
This excerpt from ACOG’s Patient Education Pamphlet is provided for your information. It is not medical advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for visiting your doctor. If you need medical care, have any questions, or wish to receive the full text of this Patient Education Pamphlet, please contact your obstetrician-gynecologist.
To ensure the information is current and accurate, ACOG titles are reviewed every 18 months.
Copyright © February 2000 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
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