Doctors said even just drinking half a glass of wine could stop babies breathing for up to two hours
Pregnant women are being urged not to drink at all after a study found that just half a glass of wine can stop their baby breathing and moving for up to two hours.
The research, which reveals the dangers of just one unit of alcohol, flies in the face of NHS guidelines.
These imply it is safe for pregnant women to continue drinking as long as it is not more than one or two units, once or twice a week.
Experts claim British women are being given insufficient advice, and compared the toxins in alcohol to those in Thalidomide – the infamous drug for morning sickness that caused severe birth defects in the 1950s and 60s.
Professor Peter Hepper, who carried out the study on the effects of low-level alcohol in pregnancy – the first of its kind in the UK – said: ‘If women drink just one unit of alcohol, the baby’s breathing and movement stop for up to two hours after that. That’s not normal – the baby should be continually active.’
The professor, from Queen’s University Belfast, looked at 18-week scans of pregnant women who drank on average two-and-a-half units a week – equivalent to a 200ml glass of wine.
He noticed the foetuses stopped moving and breathing, then they suddenly jumped and turned themselves over.
Speaking to ITV’s Exposure programme, which will air next week, he said the jolts suggested the babies’ brains were not developing properly. ‘The only safe [alcohol] level is zero,’ he added.
Dr Mary Mather, a consultant paediatrician, said British women were being ‘deprived’ of information about the dangers of drinking while pregnant.
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In the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, pregnant women are told not to drink at all.
Dr Mather said: ‘Alcohol is a poison... it’s toxic to developing tissue. It’s also what doctors call a teratogen. The best known teratogen is Thalidomide. It’s in the same category of drugs.’
Sir Al Aynsley-Green, a professor of child health at University College London and a former Children’s Commissioner, said: ‘Exposure to alcohol before birth is the single most important preventable cause of incurable brain damage.
Doctors compared drinking to the drug Thalidomide, prescribed to mothers in the 1950s and 60s who were prescribed the drug during pregnancy. Their babies were born with severe birth defects. Above, Simone Ilger, a Thalidomide survivor
‘There is insufficient reliable information that can help women make these important decisions.’
It is estimated that as many as one in 100 babies born in Britain have physical defects or behavioural problems caused by their mother’s drinking. This is known as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and the condition lasts for life.
Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, is currently reviewing the guidelines on safe drinking for all adults, including pregnant women. Her new advice is due this summer.
The Department of Health said: ‘Our advice is that pregnant women or women trying to conceive should avoid drinking alcohol. If they do choose to drink, to minimise the risk to the baby, they should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week and should not get drunk.’
- Exposure: When Pregnant Women Drink is on ITV next Tuesday at 9pm.
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