Why it is NEVER safe to drink during pregnancy: alcohol blocks the growth of blood vessels in the placenta – even at conception, study finds
- Low birth weight increases a baby’s risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity
- Alcohol consumption during pregnancy has long been associated with limited fetal growth
- Doctors warn that there is no safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy, but some say that drinking before you know you are pregnant is unlikely to cause “serious harm”
- Research from the New University of Queensland and Oxford University shows that even alcohol in the earliest days of pregnancy can lead to smaller babies in a rat study
- Female babies were born 17% smaller and their mother’s placentas grew 32 percent fewer blood vessels to feed the developing fetuses
Babies whose mothers drank alcohol during their pregnancy – even at conception – run a greater risk of being born with low birth weights, a new study suggests.
New research by scientists from the University of Oxford and the University of Queensland showed that alcohol blocks the development of extremely important blood vessels in the placenta in rats.
And these effects become apparent from the earliest stages of pregnancy.
They also discovered that female animals were much more dramatically affected by alcohol exposure, which was related to 17 percent lower birth weights and 32 percent less development of blood vessels in the placenta.
Some organizations say that drinking before you know you are pregnant is unlikely to cause ‘serious harm’, but a new study found that drinking – even at conception – can lead to low birth weights
A developing fetus is sensitive to any change in the mother’s body, and vital statistics such as birth weight can have lifelong consequences.
Babies are considered a low birth weight if they are less than eight pounds and five grams.
By being small at birth, a child is at greater risk for respiratory disorders, hemorrhage, heart disease, eye diseases, infections and an underdeveloped liver early in life.
As they grow up in adolescence and adulthood, these children develop more life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
They also run a higher risk of obesity and intellectual disabilities.
One of the most common causes of low birth weight – apart from premature birth – is fetal growth reduction (FGR).
FGR simply means that a developing fetus does not reach the womb sufficiently.
Genetic factors – such as the size of the parents – can prevent the baby from reaching this weight, but lifestyle factors such as drinking, smoking and drugs can.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention insists that there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink at any point during pregnancy – even before a woman knows she is pregnant.
Although the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reflects this advice, it also assures women that “serious damage from this type of [alcohol] use is unlikely.
“The most important thing is not to drink alcohol for the rest of the pregnancy.”
But the new study, published in the journal Development, suggests that even for the first sips, there may be risks of wine, beer, or liquor.
Scientists from the University of Queensland and the University of Oxford studied female rats from four days before their eggs were fertilized.
They continued to monitor the animals and the development of their embryos until after the birth of the babies and considered ‘early pregnancy’ until four days after conception.
Even alcohol exposure in these earliest days of the animals’ pregnancies had clear and harmful effects on their fetuses.
In the earliest days of pregnancy, the placenta develops around the fetus.
Proper development of the organ and its vascular system is crucial for the fetus because this system of blood vessels provides nutrients and oxygen from mother to baby.
But among the rats, the scientists saw that even exposure to alcohol in the earliest days of pregnancy reduced the growth of blood vessels in the placenta.
For unclear reasons, the effects of this deficiency were felt much more by female fetuses, whose placentas showed a 32 percent reduction in blood vessel growth and whose birth weights were 17 percent lower on average.
“This has implications for human health in that it partially explains why babies exposed to alcohol in the womb are often born small,” said co-author Dr. Jacinta Kalisch-Smith, a placenta researcher at Oxford University.
“The next part of this project is to see if dietary supplements can reduce or even prevent the adverse effects of alcohol exposure.”
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