Alcohol consumption during pregnancy
During the first two months of pregnancy, the developing baby appears to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and it is best to avoid alcohol completely at this time. In particular, avoid binge drinking, where you take a large amount of alcohol over a relatively short period, as the effects of this on the fetus are not yet clear. But if you are usually a light drinker and generally healthy, there appears to be very little chance that if you had too much to drink once early in your pregnancy that it will have harmed your baby.
The only way to be absolutely certain that alcohol does not affect your developing baby is to give it up altogether once you know that you are pregnant and throughout the rest of your pregnancy. Indeed, many women find that they lose the taste for alcohol in pregnancy. This may be the body’s natural way of avoiding a potentially toxic substance. However, if you do enjoy the occasional glass of wine, it’s worth knowing that there is no confirmed scientific evidence to prove conclusively that drinking under two glasses of wine a day during pregnancy causes a problem.
did you know?
Alcohol in pregnancy
• No one knows what the safe level of alcohol is in pregnancy.
• Drinking ten or more units a week can impair your fertility.
• Higher levels may also disturb the baby’s development.
• Very high levels can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome with physical abnormalities and intellectual impairments.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
There is no doubt that women who consume large amounts of alcohol in pregnancy can damage their developing baby and extremely high consumption of alcohol on a regular basis can lead to so-called ‘fetal alcohol syndrome’. This condition is rare, however, affecting between 1:300 and 1:2,000 pregnancies. The full syndrome affects only about a third of babies whose mothers drink around the equivalent of three bottles of wine a day in pregnancy. The fact that only a third of these babies are affected suggests that other factors such as poor nutrition, genetic make-up or drug abuse need to be present, in addition to heavy alcohol intake, for the syndrome to develop.
Fetal alcohol syndrome has several features: the baby is small; there may be abnormalities in the brain and nervous system that affect development and intellectual ability; there may also be physical abnormalities, such as a short, up-turned nose, receding forehead and chin and asymmetrical ears, causing a characteristic facial deformity.
Coffee consumption before pregnancy
There is no good and consistent evidence that establishes as fact the theory that drinking coffee reduces your fertility. The possibility of an effect has been raised, however, as it has been proposed that caffeine constricts the blood vessels and reduces the blood supply to parts of the body, including the ovaries and the womb, or because it interferes with the metabolism of the female hormone oestrogen.
Remember that caffeine is not only found in coffee. There is caffeine in tea and in some soft drinks like cola.
Coffee consumption during pregnancy
Caffeine crosses the placenta and blood levels in the developing baby are similar to those found in the mother’s blood. There is no good evidence to suggest that caffeine ingested in moderate amounts (up to four or five cups a day) harms the developing baby or causes problems, such as miscarriage or premature birth. However, large amounts of caffeine are not recommended in pregnancy as they might be associated with problems such as miscarriage, so you should avoid drinking more than five cups of coffee a day. Indeed, it is probably best to avoid taking that much caffeine even if you are not pregnant. Interestingly, many women go off coffee in the first few weeks of pregnancy. This might be the body’s own way of limiting caffeine exposure in your developing baby.
must know
Caffeine and smoking
Smoking is known to be linked to impaired growth of the developing baby. When a high caffeine intake is combined with smoking, however, this combination may have a more injurious effect on the baby’s growth than the effect of smoking on its own.
Smoking and drugs
Despite our awareness that smoking has a seriously adverse effect on our health, with particular concerns in pregnancy, many young women continue to smoke. They often think they will stop smoking when they conceive. However, smoking does not just affect the development of the baby, but also your ability to conceive successfully.
The effects of smoking
watch out!
• Smoking reduces male and female fertility.
• Smoking will reduce your baby’s growth.
• While it is best to stop smoking long before conception, stopping during pregnancy will make a difference to your baby and your health. It is never too late to stop.
Research has shown that smoking may triple your chances of not being able to conceive. If your partner smokes, he needs to give up as well. Smoking can damage his sperm as well as expose you to passive smoking. However, if you do stop smoking, your fertility returns to normal.
Smoking robs the body of vitamins, especially vitamins B and C, and can cause a build-up of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are molecules that can damage blood vessels, such as those supplying the placenta, thus reducing the supply of nutrients for the developing baby. So smoking is linked to having a small baby as it reduces the ability of the placenta to supply the baby with all the nutrients and oxygen it needs to develop to its full potential. In addition, if you stop smoking, you reduce the risk of certain bleeding problems from the placenta that can complicate the pregnancy and put both you and your baby at risk. Even after pregnancy it is important not to smoke around your baby. This is because the baby will be more prone to ‘cot death’ and to breathing problems.
All this means that it is important that you stop smoking before becoming pregnant. If your partner is also a smoker, it would be best if you gave up together so that you can support each other. Smoking is a powerful addiction and so it can be very difficult to stop. Your doctor can provide advice or support to help you come off cigarettes or refer you to a smoking cessation programme.
The effects of taking drugs
must know
Prescription drugs
Certain drugs or medicines can affect your chances of becoming pregnant and could go on to harm the baby in the womb. Equally, you may require medication for your own continued good health. If you take a prescribed medicine on a regular basis, be sure to discuss this with your doctor before you attempt to get pregnant.
When planning on getting pregnant or, indeed, if you are pregnant, you should not take street drugs. These are all potentially harmful to your baby. Some, like cocaine, can lead to birth abnormalities; others, such as heroin, methadone, amphetamines and marijuana, can affect the growth of your unborn baby so that it will be small. There is also an increased risk of premature delivery, bleeding from the placenta and an increased risk of infant death. The baby may also suffer from drug withdrawal symptoms after delivery as these drugs cross into the baby’s body while it is in the womb. The baby’s later development in childhood can also be impaired. In addition, there is a much higher rate of complications to the woman in pregnancy, such as anaemia, infections such as hepatitis and HIV and septicemia from infected needles, and thrombosis (blood clots).