Two units of alcohol a week risks foetus

Just two alcoholic drinks a week in early pregnancy may increase the risk of having a premature or small baby, and it is middle-class women who are most likely to drink more than this.

Women who drank more than two weekly alcohol units were twice as likely to give birth to an unexpectedly small or premature baby than women who abstained completely, a study has found.

Pregnant women who drank more than two weekly units during the first three months were more likely to be older, educated to degree level, of white ethnicity, and more likely to live in well-off areas.