Pregnant women advised not to drink despite study findings

Women have been advised that official guidance to avoid alcohol in pregnancy remained in place after experts said drinking one or two units a week does not harm a child's development.
Mothers-to-be can safely drink a 175ml glass of wine, a 50ml glass of spirits or just under a pint of beer each week without affecting intellectual or behavioural development, according to a new study.
But children born to mothers who drink heavily or binge drink (seven or more units a week or six at one sitting) are at higher risk of behavioural and emotional problems.
The finding adds to previous research which found light drinking has no negative effect on toddler development.
The issue of how much is safe to drink during pregnancy has caused controversy in recent years.
In 2007, the Department of Health published guidance saying pregnant women should avoid drinking alcohol altogether, as should those trying to conceive.
This replaced previous guidance which said it was safe for pregnant women to drink one to two units of alcohol per week.
The Government said its update was not based on new research, but was to provide consistent advice to all women.
Following the latest study, in which experts examined the risk of drinking on children up to the age of five, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "After assessing the available evidence, we cannot say with confidence that drinking during pregnancy is safe and will not harm your baby.
"Therefore, as a precautionary measure, our advice to pregnant women and women trying to conceive is to avoid alcohol."
Janet Fyle, professional policy adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, said she was concerned women may take the findings as a message that it is "OK" to drink alcohol.
"There is no firm evidence that small amounts of cumulative alcohol consumption does not have an effect on the developing foetus," she said.
"Because of this our advice to women remains the same; if you are planning to become pregnant, or if you are pregnant, it is best to avoid drinking alcohol."
Heavy drinking in pregnancy is linked to the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in children, which can cause a range of physical, mental and behavioural problems.
In the latest study, led by a team at University College London, experts questioned mothers from more than 11,000 households.
In the first phase, when babies were nine months old, mothers were asked about their drinking in pregnancy alongside other health aspects, such as smoking, their socio-economic status and other factors that may influence the results.
Visits were also made when the children were aged 3 and 5 years.
Assessment of development, social and emotional behaviour at the age of five showed that boys and girls born to mothers who had one or two units of alcohol per week scored slightly higher on some tests than those born to mothers who had not touched alcohol in pregnancy.
Dr Yvonne Kelly, from University College London, who led the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said: "Our message is that there's no increased risk of difficulties in children born to mothers who drink one to two units a week. Of course heavy drinking leads to problems."