While most women cut their drinking when they become pregnant, beneficiaries drink more, a study has found. Senior Lecturer Food Nutrition and Health at the Albany campus, Patsy Watson, says pregnant women beneficiaries on binges consumed enough to put their average blood alcohol levels over twice the legal driving limit. Mrs Watson spoke out about the findings to national media.
Alcohol can cause malformation, slow growth and nervous system problems in foetuses.
The study found that 11 per cent of pregnant women habitually drank to intoxicating levels. Women under 25 were the biggest drinkers, but 44 per cent of all Maori drinkers drank to excess, compared to 3 per cent of New Zealand European drinkers. Mrs Watson's research found that in the beneficiaries group, mean alcohol in-take increased to give a mean blood alcohol level over twice the New Zealand legal limit during a drinking session. The foetus appears to be most susceptible to alcohol damage in the second and third week after fertilisation, a time when many women do not know they are pregnant and have not reduced their alcohol consumption. The smokers were also most likely to be heavy drinkers, says Mrs. Watson.