Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Drinking in the First Weeks of Pregnancy

Question: What About the First Weeks of Pregnancy?

Answer: What are the effects of alcohol on a fetus during the very first weeks -- before a woman would know that she was pregnant?

Unfortunately, there is conflicting research regarding the effect of drinking alcohol during the first, early weeks of pregnancy has on the fetus. There are some studies that show alcohol consumption during the first few weeks of pregnancy - that time when you may not even know that you a pregnant yet - can harm the development of the baby.

Then again, there are other studies that claim that drinking during those early day does not harm the fetus at that stage of development.

A study of 5,628 pregnant women in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia found that women who drink during the early weeks of pregnancy did not put their babies at risk for premature birth or low birth weight. Nor, did they put themselves at risk for high blood pressure complications during pregnancy.

Even among the women who reported having more than seven drinks a week - about 15% of the study group - the rates of premature birth and low-birth-weight babies were the same as those women who did not drink.

It should be noted that this study met with a great deal of controversy when it was published in October 2013.

A year later, another study conducted by the University of Leeds in England found that even women who drank low-level amounts of alcohol during the first weeks of pregnancy ran the risk of premature or unexpectedly small babies.

In the study of 1,264 pregnant women, even mothers who drank as few as two drinks a week, ran a greater risk of premature births and low-weight births, compared to those who did not drink.

However, over the years, studies of fetal alcohol syndrome have found that it is the mother's pattern of drinking that has the most affect on the unborn child.

The pattern and timing of prenatal alcohol use can greatly influence the impact of adverse effects on the fetus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most dangerous patterns of drinking to the baby are chronic drinking, heavy drinking and binge drinking.

Many body parts and organs are developing in the embryonic stage of pregnancy which begins at fertilization through week 8. During the first 4 weeks of pregnancy - when most women are not aware that they are pregnant - the heart, central nervous system, eyes, arms, and legs of the fetus are developing. In addition, developing organ systems may be more vulnerable to damage at the very early stages of development.

Because no one knows definitively how much or little alcohol can affect the development of your developing baby, even in the first early first weeks, the best advice continues to be quitting all alcohol consumption as soon as you intend to become pregnant or as soon as you find out that you are pregnant.

^Sources:

^{Nykjaer, C. et al "Maternal alcohol intake prior to and during pregnancy and risk of adverse birth outcomes: evidence from a British cohort." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health March 2014}

^{McCarthy, FP, et al "Association Between Maternal Alcohol Consumption in Early Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes." Obstetrics & Gynecology October 2013}