The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Britain has a policy statement saying that consuming alcohol in moderation during pregnancy is safe. The American Health warning about pregnancy and drinking is a political statement to appease the anti-alcohol lobby. It is not a medical statement based on medical fact, otherwise, it would just say Don t abuse alcohol while you are pregnant. The Foetal Alcohol Syndrome may eventually turn out to have a multi-factorial cause or pathogenesis because most women who have babies with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome come from lower economic groups in large cities. So, there may be other poor nutritional and pollution factors involved that we don t know about yet and not just alcohol abuse which may be just one factor.
Breast Feeding The next logical thing after wine and pregnancy is wine and breast- feeding.
Alcohol is secreted in breast milk. If the lactating mother sticks to moderation, the amount of alcohol in her milk would be minimal and at worst, would make the baby a little drowsy, hence allowing the baby to sleep better. It is a different story if the lactating mother abuses alcohol. Here the anti-coagulant effect of the alcohol can cause excessive bleeding in the baby. Breast Cancer Breast cancer is naturally an emotive issue with women.