Alcohol during pregnancy? No thank you!
Can you drink alcohol while pregnant? (Liquor includes beer, wine and any beverage containing alcohol). Or should they be avoided altogether? What are the consequences of consuming alcohol during the nine months of waiting?
We are often mistakenly led to think that occasional consumption is also permitted during pregnancy. Let’s see why it isn’t.
The effects of alcohol consumption in pregnancy in children
The term FASD refers generically to the spectrum of fetal alcohol disorders (Fethal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders). It is not a defined disease, as it includes the set of birth defects and brain damage resulting from a woman’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
Among the disorders detected at birth, linked to the consumption of alcohol by the mother, one of the best known is the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) , which is diagnosed as a result of growth retardation, facial abnormalities and neurological damage.
There is not always a complete diagnosis of FAS, as this pathology can also present itself in partial form, not presenting all the diagnostic factors simultaneously, for which there are also diagnoses for “fetal alcohol effects”, “neurological disorder related to alcohol” or “alcohol-related birth defects”. Characteristics common to all these pathologies are cognitive, social and behavioral disabilities, which remain throughout life.
Unfortunately, still today, due importance is not given to this phenomenon and, therefore, also the prevalence data are limited to only a few countries. The diagnosis requires a competent, expert and up-to-date medical figure (and there are still too few doctors who respond to these characteristics in relation to the case in question) and therefore a wrong or inaccurate diagnosis is very often given.
Among the few countries that have this data available, there is Italy, with a prevalence of 2 to 4%. This means that in Italy FAS is diagnosed in 2-4 cases out of 100 (for the specific study see bibliography).
The severity of FAS depends on several factors, including the level of exposure, the stage of development of the fetus, and the nutritional status of the mother.
Is it possible to drink alcohol occasionally while pregnant?
No amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy. Normally alcohol is always and in any case a toxic substance for our body, because our body is not able to metabolize ethanol correctly, lacking the necessary enzymes. This means that alcohol is not disposed of, so much so that it is found in the urine and blood (this is why these tests are performed to verify alcohol consumption) and, when in excess, a part is metabolized by taking ” other ways”, but this metabolism involves the production of other molecules that are toxic to our body (e.g. acetaldehyde), the formation of free radicals, the production of harmful fats (hepatic steatosis) and inflammation.
What has been said so far concerns a healthy and non-pregnant organism.
When a pregnant woman drinks, the alcohol consumed, in addition to reacting in the way described, reaches the child through the cord and manifests all these effects in the child, who also has the aggravating circumstance of not yet being fully formed, therefore his ability to tolerate alcohol is far inferior to that of his mother.
The only answer is to stop drinking
The guidelines of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (and, therefore, of the Ministry of Health) on alcohol consumption for women, quote verbatim:
“ Quitting drinking while pregnant is the safest course of action . Vital organs, such as heart, brain, skeleton are formed during the first 10-15 days after conception. Often this happens before you know you are pregnant. Stopping drinking while planning a pregnancy protects the baby . Women who habitually drink one or more times a day (on average 3 or more glasses a day) have a greater frequency of miscarriages especially during the second trimester of pregnancy. This would be attributable to a toxic action exerted by alcohol on the fetus even after taking modest doses (for example 2 glasses in advanced pregnancy). “ (see bibliography)
Ultimately the ideal is to completely AVOID drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Even if it is a common opinion to think that “a drop every now and then will never be” or “I’m not addicted…” we consider that we are not talking about our life, but about a more important life that depends ENTIRELY on us. 9 months without alcohol have never killed anyone, quite the contrary. Nothing happens if we give up the sip of wine or beer for this period. On the contrary, we could never forgive ourselves if we had even the slightest doubt that our little whim could have been the cause of a problem that arose in the child.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.