Labels to warn against drink during pregnancy

HEALTH warnings on bottles and cans of alcohol are expected to form part of the State’s response to a new study which reveals how much expectant mothers are drinking while pregnant.

A survey of more than 120,000 pregnant women over the past 20 years found that more than 60% drank while pregnant.

The study, conducted by the Coombe Women’s Hospital in Dublin, found that 7% of pregnant women admitted to drinking more than six units of alcohol a week.

The maximum recommended intake of alcohol per week for women is 14 units.

The study found that more than two-thirds of pregnant women under the age of 18 drank while pregnant.

And more than 45% of the women surveyed in 2005 continued to smoke during pregnancy.

While the study found that the use of illicit drugs during pregnancy was far more infrequent, almost 5% of all pregnant women admitted to using some form of illegal drug.

Health Minister, Mary Harney, who launched the report, funded by the department’s health promotion unit, said she was shocked that so many women drank and smoked while pregnant.

Experts now believe that women who drink while pregnant are putting their unborn child at risk of developing foetal alcohol syndrome — a medical term used to describe the varied, and often devastating, effects of alcohol consumption on the brain of the developing foetus.

“International evidence does show that there is no safe amount of alcohol that one should consume during pregnancy,” the minister stressed.

Ms Harney said she wanted to examine the possibility of alcohol products carrying health warnings similar to France where such products carry a mandatory warning that alcohol can damage unborn babies.

She pointed out that the warning used on alcohol products would be similar to those carried on cigarette packets.

IBEC’s Drinks Manufacturers of Ireland, said the industry would play its part in developing and supporting any evidence-based approach to educating women about the dangers of drinking while pregnant.