Study

Drinking while pregnant and its effects on the size of infants at birth has been studied in earlier research. This study examined the link between drinking while pregnant and children’s height and weight from birth to age 10.

Data came from 7,597 mother-child pairs. Occasional or light daily drinking while pregnant was not linked to reduced birth weight. Nor to birth length or growth up to the age of 10.

The infants of mothers who were heavily drinking while pregnant were born slightly shorter and lighter. That’s compared to infants of women who had abstained. But by age 10 the children of the heavily drinking mothers were similar in height and weight.

The subject of drinking while pregnant is one about which reasonable people disagree. Often very strongly. As in religion and politics, they can believe that their way is the only way. But this is a very personal decision. It need not be justified to others.

Resources: Drinking While Pregnant

Web

• • Effects of Moderate Alcohol Drinking During Pregnancy
  • Pregnant Women and Advice on Drinking Alcohol.

Source

• • Keeffe, L., et al. Maternal alcohol use during pregnancy and offspring trajectories of height and weight. A prospective cohort study. Drug Alco Depend, 153, 323-9.

Readings on drinking while pregnant

Popular Books

• • Champion, P. and McCormic, A. Eating and Drinking in Labour. Boston: Butterworth.
  • Dolan, S. and Kelly, A. Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby. The Ultimate Pregnancy Guide. NY: HarperOne.
  • Duigan, J., et al. Clean & Lean Pregnancy Guide. London: Kyle.
  • Geddes, L. Bumpology: The Myth-busting Pregnancy Book for Curious Parents-to-be. NY: Simon & Schuster.
  • Glicksman, M. and DiGeronimo, T. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth. NY: Alpha.
  • Ricciotti, H. and Connelly, V. The Pregnancy Cookbook. NY: Norton.

Scholarly

• • Bakker, R., et al. Light and moderate maternal alcohol consumption with fetal growth. Int. J. Epi., 2010, 39(3), 777-789.
  • Lundsberg, L., et al. Low-to-Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Selected Birth Outcomes. Ann. Epi., 2019, 2014 25, 46-54.
  • Shiono, P., et al. Smoking and drinking during pregnancy. JAMA., 1996, 255(1), 82-84.