Women lack guidance on drinking when pregnant

The majority of pregnant women underestimate how much they can drink when pregnant, with many offered little or conflicting advice, according to a recent survey by UK drinks charity Drinkaware.

Currently the Government’s chief medical officer advise pregnant women, or women trying for a baby, to avoid alcohol altogether, but also that “one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week”, is acceptable.

However only 20% of those surveyed by Drinkaware were able to correctly identify the current guidance, with eight in 10 women believing the guidelines to be stricter than they actually are. A fifth of women said they were given no advice about drinking while pregnant.

Of those that did receive advice more than half (56%) said that different sources provided “conflicting information” about drinking during pregnancy and a third (33%) said that the information they were given was not clear or easy to understand.

“When we spoke to mums they told us that the variety of information available on alcohol and pregnancy can appear to be conflicting”, said Elaine Hindal, chief executive of alcohol education charity Drinkaware.

Almost nine in 10 (88%) mums surveyed said that they didn’t approve of drinking during pregnancy at all, or only approve of the occasional sip or on special occasions, despite guidelines indicating it was safe to drink more than this.

“Our research highlights the importance of parents receiving clear and consistent advice so that they can make informed choices about drinking alcohol during pregnancy. For many mums the current Government guidelines do not go far enough”, added Hindal.

“Our advice is that the safest option is to follow the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer and avoid drinking at all whilst pregnant or trying to conceive. If you have drunk alcohol in your pregnancy please do not worry but get in contact with your GP or midwife.”

Julia Brown, chief executive of UK charity The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Trust (FASD) said it was “worrying” that some pregnant women in the UK are continuing to receive “no advice or unclear and confusing advice on drinking during pregnancy”.

“This is concerning because as a consequence the health of the next generation continues to be put at a significant risk of being affected by FASD”, she said. “We would prefer the UK to follow the international medical community, giving a clear message of no alcohol in pregnancy, which removes all ambiguity and risk to both the unborn child and mother’s health.”

For more information about alcohol and pregnancy click here.