Pregnancy is a very important period in every woman's life. If you are pregnant, think, or plan to have a child, you can find advice on how to prepare and avoid substances such as alcohol and tobacco, so you can take care of yourself and your fetus.
What can happen to the fetus and the newborn if you consume alcohol in the pre-pregnancy period?
Many women adopt healthy habits when they think or plan a potential pregnancy to promote the health and well-being of the child they are going to bring to the world. If you adopt some positive changes in your pre-pregnancy habits, it will be easier to keep them when you are pregnant. Preventing alcohol use before pregnancy will prepare the body with the right conditions for the fetus.
Alcohol use before pregnancy can lead to difficulty in conception, deregulation of menstrual cycle in women or infertility and temporary disability in men
What you need to know about alcohol consumption during pregnancy
- In the same way that all the substances reach the embryo through the placenta, so does the alcohol.
- The more alcohol the mother consumes, the more it penetrates the placenta.
- The fetal liver has a reduced ability to metabolize or eliminating from the body, alcohol.
Drinking alcohol in pregnancy increases the chances of:
- Elimination and endometrial death.
- Problematic intrauterine growth of the fetus.
- Preterm delivery.
- Birth of low-birth-weight infants.
- Birth of newborns with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome with long-term consequences, such as: - brain, heart, body, hearing or vision abnormalities, problems in balance, speech delay, learning difficulties, low academic performance, difficulty in writing and painting, hyperactivity and attention deficit.
What you need to know about alcohol consumption during breastfeeding period
- In the same way that all substances reach the infant through the breast milk, so does alcohol.
- Alcohol consumption during breastfeeding may affect the development of the newborn.
- Drinking alcohol during breastfeeding may reduce production but also impair the taste of breast milk resulting in a newborn disgust towards breast milk.
- After drinking alcohol it is preferable to avoid breastfeeding for two to three hours per beverage unit so as to give time for alcohol to be excreted from breast milk.
Safer Choice: Zero drinking alcoholic drinks.
Future mothers are better off from drinking before conception and during pregnancy and breastfeeding to avoid all possible risks and ensure the best conditions for their child. Although more information is needed on the relationship between low or moderate alcohol consumption and adverse effects on the fetus, zero consumption is the safest option.
In addition, expectant mothers who drink alcohol before pregnancy may find it difficult to reduce their consumption during pregnancy, but also continue eating during the first trimester of pregnancy, as women often do not immediately realize that they are pregnant. The first trimester is the most sensitive period for the embryo in which its organs develop.
Source: Cyprus National Addictions’ Authority