Effects of Drinking Alcohol during Pregnancy

If you are pregnant and are used to consume alcohol every day, then the advice may be really confusing for you. Your some friends may have experienced occasional drinking and have given birth to a healthy child, while some of them may feel that it is an unnecessary risk. However, research confirms that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be harmful to the baby. While you consume alcohol, your baby also consumes it through the placenta, which reaches to baby’s different organs, blood, and tissues. The increased levels of alcohol present in the baby can increase the risk of lifelong birth defects and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the baby.

Alcohol Effects on the Unborn

During pregnancy, the baby grows and develops continuously throughout the entire course. The first trimester is crucial as during this time, the baby’s vital organs develop that keeps on growing during the rest of duration. Also, there is a rapid growth of the baby in the third trimester. Consuming excessive alcohol in these crucial durations can affect the baby negatively to a great extent. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder results from regular and excessive drinking which can cause life-long and irreversible birth defects in the child. The severe complications can cause problems like Stillbirth, Cerebral Palsy, Pregnancy loss and premature delivery. Some of the issues that can occur in the newborn after birth include:

• Balance and movement issue
• Heart Defect
• Behavioural issue
• Slow Learning
• Change in shape of baby’s face
• Poor child growth
• Speech issue

So, the best thing you can do to protect your baby is to stop drinking alcohol immediately and opting a healthy lifestyle.

Safe Amount of Alcohol to drink

The question of how much quantity of alcohol is adequate to take during pregnancy has always remained controversial. Till date, there is no such quantity that is considered safe in pregnancy because whatever you drink is consumed by the baby also. Moreover, along with quantity, the frequency of drinking is equally important. Many people feel that drinking once in a week is fine and not harmful for the baby, but if you are consuming a large quantity of alcohol at once, that is surely going to harm your baby badly. So, the best advice is not to consume alcohol at all.

Consuming too much of alcohol also adversely affects your fertility; therefore, it is very important for a woman to stop taking alcohol in order to have a safe and healthy pregnancy. Along with this, the quality of sperm is also affected in men who consume excess alcohol. Hence, it is very important for the couples who are already facing fertility issues and are planning to undergo IVF treatment that they do not consume alcohol or are careful about its intake.

If you are also facing any fertility issue because of excessive consumption of alcohol, it is advised that you should consult a fertility treatment center in India to have a successful IVF treatment and achieve a healthy pregnancy.