80% of women drink alcohol while pregnant

Psychiatrist says two studies on Irish drinking levels conducted 10 years apart ‘are telling same story’

It is time to take action on drinking during pregnancy, with two studies 10 years apart telling the same story, psychiatrist Siobhán Barry said yesterday.

Dr Barry headed a seven-year study of more than 43,000 women attending the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin that found over 80% of women drank during their pregnancy.