Alcohol ‘should carry warning for pregnant women'

ALL alcohol should carry a warning that it can damage unborn babies, psychiatrist Dr Siobhán Barry said after a study revealed that over 80% of women drank during their pregnancy.

More than 600 babies are born in Ireland every year suffering from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) caused by the mothers drinking alcohol during pregnancy - but this figure is conservative because many more cases are not being picked up.

Dr Barry, who headed the study of more than 43,000 women attending Coombe Hospital in Dublin, said medical reports suggested that even moderate to low alcohol consumption could damage an unborn child.