RTÉ News: Alcohol use while pregnant ‘prevalent’ in Ireland

More than 75 per cent of Irish women’s pregnancies involve exposure to alcohol despite warnings about the health effects of drinking, according to a new study.

The authors of the report said the data suggested that alcohol use during pregnancy was “prevalent and socially pervasive” in the countries surveyed and new policy and interventions were now required to reduce alcohol prevalence both prior to and during pregnancy.

The amount of alcohol drunk varied across the three studies included in the analysis.

“I said, yes, and she said she was uncomfortable serving pregnant women alcohol”.

Drinkwise Australia say that “It’s not known how much alcohol is safe to drink when you’re pregnant.

And, among those who are consuming some alcohol, almost all are doing so at very low levels where there is no evidence of harm”.

Since women drink in the first three months, when the development of the foetus is less well understood, they say, “the widespread consumption of even low levels of alcohol during pregnancy is a significant public health concern”.

The study also found that women who smoked were more likely to drink and Caucasian women drank more than those of other ethnic backgrounds.

Official advice in the United Kingdom from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) states that women should not drink at all in the first three months of pregnancy, and drink no more than one or two units, once or twice a week, after that. But the number of reported units dropped substantially in all countries between the first and second trimester, as did binge drinking.

“We know that women are continuing to drink alcohol in pregnancy and certainly some studies in Australia have suggested that up to 80% of women still have some alcohol”, said Professor Elliott, who was not involved in the BMJ Open study.

Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), described the findings as “very concerning”.

The Department of Health makes it simple – total abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy.

“We believe it’s time for concerted, political action and leadership, from Government, the alcohol industry, medical professionals and supporting agencies to work alongside women, families and affected adults and children”.

However, researchers cautioned the actual prevalence could be far lower, as estimates of drinking during pregnancy from the PRAMS and GUI studies were substantially less.

Speaking on Ireland AM within the last hour, Dr Dam Coulter Smyth – Master at the Rotunda – said in response to the burning question, is it OK for a pregnant woman to have one or two glasses of wine during pregnancy?

“This is why the RCM continues to advise women to abstain from drinking alcohol when pregnant or if trying to conceive”. Stopping drinking is likely to have corresponded with having a positive pregnancy test. So the large majority of these Auckland women are likely to have stopped drinking as soon as pregnancy was diagnosed.