• Question: What happens when you drink alcahol when your pregnant?

    Asked by sophie11xoxo to Suzi on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi @sophie11xoxo
      Thanks for the question.
      There’s a lot of work going on investigating this at the moment, which is why the advice to pregnant women about drinking has changed. In fact, the data set I’m working has been used to look at this question, and they found that if you drink a small amount of alcohol (a couple of glasses of wine a week) there is no effect on the baby.

      However, if you drink a lot, and in particular very early in the pregnancy or very late, this can have bad consequences for the baby. They are often born very small, they can be less intelligent, have deformities, have emotional or behaviour problems, or have problems with some of their organs.

      Drinking lots of alcohol can also increase your likelihood of having a miscarriage or a still born baby.

      Hope this answers your question.

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