It is not the first nor will it be the last time that we repeat the warning that a drop of alcohol is too much during pregnancy.
Still, studies suggest that half of women consume alcohol in the first few weeks of pregnancy, but most quit once they find out they are pregnant. What remains to be determined is the relationship between when alcohol is stopped early in pregnancy and the risk of miscarriage.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Canada) have found that each week that a woman consumes alcohol during the first five to ten weeks of pregnancy is associated with an eight percent increase in the risk of miscarriage. Another powerful reason to refrain from consuming it.
No amount of alcohol is safe
The results, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, are the result of analyzing the timing, amount and type of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and how these factors are related to the risk of spontaneous abortion before 20 weeks of gestation.
Most women quit drinking after a positive pregnancy test, but drinking alcohol before discovering it is common, both among those who have planned their pregnancy and those who have not. Half of the 5,353 women included in the analysis reported drinking before conception and during the first weeks of pregnancy. The mean gestational age at which they stopped drinking alcohol was 29 days.
According to this study, the impact of alcohol consumption increases until the ninth week of pregnancy, and the risk accumulates regardless of whether the woman has had one drink or more than four a week. The type of alcohol consumed or the degree of alcoholism achieved does not influence either.
Katherine Hartmann, Vice President of Research Integration at this Canadian university, points out:
“Refraining from alcohol around conception or during pregnancy has long been advocated for a number of reasons, including the prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome. However, modest levels of drinking are often considered safe.”
The emotional costs of an abortion
According to the researchers, one in six recognized pregnancies ends in miscarriage , which comes at great emotional cost and leaves questions about the reason for the abortion unanswered.
Biologically, little is known about how alcohol affects early pregnancy , but it can increase the risk of miscarriage by altering hormonal patterns, altering implantation quality, increasing oxidative stress, or impairing key pathways.
Drinking alcohol is more common in the first weeks of gestation – when the embryo develops more rapidly and organs begin to form – so it is important to understand the relationship between the time of consumption and the risk involved.
Alex Sundermann, lead author of the study and a recent graduate of Vanderbilt University’s Medical Scientist Training Program, notes that the sample is very large, comes from widely diverse parts of the United States, and evaluates data in early pregnancy with more advanced analytical techniques than previous studies.
Hence, the relevance of its conclusions. The researchers insist on the importance of carrying out a pregnancy test as soon as a lack of menstruation is detected in order to stop consuming alcohol as soon as possible and thus reduce the risk of abortion associated with its consumption.
Via | Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Photos | iStock
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