TIME to sober up? Many pregnant women drink alcohol despite guidelines in most countries advising abstinence.
The finding comes from three studies into the drinking habits of 17,244 women in Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
In the UK, where women are advised to avoid drinking alcohol during early pregnancy, 69 per cent of women drank during their first trimester. Of these, 67 per cent drank more than 2 units a week, with 32 per cent binge drinking during this time.
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Co-author at the University of Cambridge says that this may be because women don鈥檛 know they are pregnant. The rate of binge drinking drops to 1 per cent in the second trimester. (BMJ Open, DOI: ).
Probably the most reliable figure for Ireland comes from the same international study. This found that 80 per cent of women drank during their first trimester.
Most countries advise abstinence because there isn鈥檛 enough evidence to know if low levels of alcohol are safe. UK have come under fire for saying abstinence is preferred but that up to four units a week is unlikely to cause harm.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淏aby boozers鈥�
