Interactive Tools Fun tools to learn and play with. Others, such as the Health Education Authority, advise limiting alcohol during pregnancy. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends that women should be careful about alcohol consumption in pregnancy and limit their intake to no more than one unit of alcohol per day. The effects of alcohol are greater in women who smoke, drink large amounts of drinks containing caffeine , and have a poor diet.
Scientists do know that drinking on a regular basis affects a developing baby.
When you drink alcohol, it rapidly reaches your baby through your bloodstream and across the placenta . Children born with FAS suffer from mental and growth retardation, behavioural problems, and facial and heart defects. Babies of women who drink more than two glasses of alcohol a day throughout their pregnancy are more likely to have more problems with learning speech, attention span, language, and hyperactivity than babies of women who did not drink. Although less severe than FAS, the effects of FAE are still harmful. You may well find that a glass of wine drunk at home is twice the size of a glass of wine drunk in a pub.