• Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can be harmful to the fetus.
• Recent analysis shows that alcohol consumption among women of child-bearing age (18 to 44 years) remains at levels of concern, particularly among women younger than 30 years of age.
• Two groups are especially at risk: women who are alcohol dependent; and women who become unexpectedly pregnant while maintaining potentially dangerous levels of alcohol consumption.

Heavy drinking during pregnancy can harm the fetus, leading to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or other prenatal alcohol-related conditions such as alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). In the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, an examination of the most recent data on alcohol consumption among women of child-bearing age (18 to 44 years) reveals that drinking remains at levels of concern among women who are younger than 30 years of age.

"There are a considerable number of women of childbearing age who are drinking excessively, especially the younger women," said Raul Caetano, professor of epidemiology and regional dean at The University of Texas School of Public Health as well as the study's corresponding author. "These may not necessarily be the women of child-bearing age who are pregnant, but because about 45 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and because we don't know what the cutoff point for damaging alcohol consumption during pregnancy is, by the time a woman in this group realizes that she is pregnant, the fetus may already be damaged."

"The diagnosis of FAS involves facial anomalies plus abnormalities of the brain which lead to mental retardation," noted Lee Ann Kaskutas, a research scientist with the Alcohol Research Group at Berkeley. "It is an extremely serious condition. However, full-blown FAS is not widespread, and is not associated with moderate drinking. Furthermore, it is important that
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24-May-2006