Up to Seven Glasses of Alcohol a Week Okay for Pregnant Women, Not Harmful for Baby's Brain Development: Study

Consuming moderate levels of alcohol during pregnancy does not cause any damage to the baby's brain, researchers reveal.

To reach at the conclusion, the study published in BMJ Open, analyzed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) of 7000 children aged 10.

Researchers collected information about mothers who consumed alcohol after conceiving, at 18 weeks and after giving birth. While about 70 percent of the mothers questioned said that they abstained from taking alcohol during pregnancy, the rest revealed consuming 1 to 2; 3 to 7 or more than 7 glasses of alcohol (4.5 percent) per week. 

Brain development of the children was gauged by examining their ability to balance. Participants underwent three different balancing tests including the dynamic and static balance test for 20 minutes, eyes open or closed. While the dynamic balance was measured through a child's ability to walk on a beam, the static balance was analyzed by the span of time a child could stand on one leg and heel-to-toe balancing. Researchers also analyzed the genetic predisposition to alcohol by testing blood samples of 4,335 mothers.

 At the end of the study, researchers couldn't find any evidence to prove the link between the negative impact of alcohol consumption on foetal development and children's ability to balance.

"No evidence was found to indicate that moderate maternal alcohol consumption in this population sample had an adverse effect on offspring balance at age 10,"the authors wrote, while concluding the study. "An apparent beneficial effect of higher total maternal alcohol consumption on offspring balance appeared likely to reflect residual confounding."

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been a topic of a global debate for long now. Findings of the study both contradict and support previous findings. Previous studies have found consuming alcohol during pregnancy leaves a negative impact on the child's physical and mental growth; harming the child's intelligence levels. Contradicting these, research has also shown light drinking and moderate drinking during pregnancy were not harmful for children.

Medical experts normally recommend women to avoid alcohol during pregnancy as it can lead to foetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, low birth weight and developmental disabilities. However, authorities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2012 found one out of 13 pregnant women consuming alcohol in the U.S. The tendency was found more prevalent among older and educated women.