If you were looking forward to enjoying your one glass of vino a week while pregnant, this report is urging you to think again. Said report stipulates that Irish woman lead the way when it comes to binge drinking while pregnant. Seemingly 45% of pregnant people admitted to drinking heavily in the first trimester, while this dropped considerably in the second trimester. We drink more than our English, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, according to the study issued Dr Linda O'Keeffe of Cambridge University.
Speaking via the Independent, O'Keefe said: "The big message here is the mismatch between what the guidelines say and what women are doing. We must put the responsibility on government to ensure we are conveying the guidelines effectively."
Among the findings: "Ireland emerged as the country with the highest rates of drinking, both before (90pc) and during (82pc) pregnancy. We were also highest for binge drinking, before (59pc) and during (45pc) pregnancy, based on estimates from the SCOPE study."
Speaking on Ireland AM this morning, Dr Sam Coulter Smith - 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?
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"We don't know what amount of alcohol is safe... When a woman drinks, alcohol crosses the placenta. It gets into the baby's bloodstream, and then it then passes the blood brain barrier into the baby's brain. Babies don't process alcohol in the same way, it accumulates in the foetal tissues. And that's what causes the problem. We don't know what the safe level of alcohol is in pregnancy, and therefore if we don't know what the safe level is then we have to say to people, you should abstain during pregnancy."
I'll hold my hand up. I had a glass of red wine once a week during my pregnancy and my child is perfectly healthy. Unfortunately that's not always the case.
Did you enjoy a a few glasses of wine while pregnant? If you got pregnant again, would you do the same?
