Don't worry if you had a couple of cocktails before you knew you were pregnant. Replace your favorite drink with its non-alcoholic cousin, and find other ways to unwind. The jury's still out on drinking during pregnancy, but most experts advise abstinence. Since it's impossible to identify a safe dose, we advise abstinence. So do experts at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics .
Scientists do know that drinking on a regular basis affects a developing child.
When you drink alcohol it rapidly reaches the baby through your bloodstream and across the placenta . Research suggests that the infants of women who drank one to two glasses of alcohol a day throughout their pregnancy have more problems with learning, speech, attention span, language, and hyperactivity than the offspring of women who abstained. Even moderate drinking can lead to miscarriage , premature labor, or a low-birthweight baby. Heavy drinkers are those who have two or more drinks per day, according to one set of guidelines cited by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Disorders associated with FAE include behavioral and intellectual impairments, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.