Experts Respond to New Report Telling Pregnant Women To Totally Avoid Alcohol

How bad is a glass of wine when you're knocked up? Very, according to a new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The leading US pediatricians' group issued updated advice on Monday that warns that no amount of alcohol should be considered safe for consumption while pregnant—no matter what trimester you're in or how teeny-tiny the wineglass you imbibe from.

"The research suggests that the smartest choice for women who are pregnant is to just abstain from alcohol completely," said Dr. Janet F. Williams, one of the report's lead authors, in a statement published on the AAP's website. She believes that diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders remain "significantly under-recognized" due to a lack of uniformly accepted diagnostic criteria.

Dr. Williams' clinical report, titled "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders," concludes that "despite research evidence clearly documenting the spectrum of detrimental consequences of PAE (pre-natal alcohol exposure), too many women continue to drink alcohol during pregnancy." The AAP stressed that "no amount of alcohol intake should be considered safe."

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (or FASDs) is an umbrella term for the range of abnormalities that can occur in a person whose mother drank during her pregnancy. The most severe of these disorders is known as fetal alcohol syndrome. FASD symptoms can include learning difficulties, hyperactive behavior, and physical signs such as shorter-than-average height and abnormal facial features.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that surveyed 8,383 pregnant women found that one in ten reported consuming alcohol in the past 30 days, and one in 33 reported binge drinking (defined as consuming four or more drinks in one go).

Lee Wright, a senior lecturer in midwifery and women's health at Birmingham City University in England, said that he believes that abstinence is the best practice for women—especially because of the lack of scientific knowledge on how booze affects pregnancy.

"The problem is we don't know exactly how much alcohol somebody has to drink and when in order for children to appear on that [FASD] spectrum," Wright told Broadly. "Some people could technically drink a little bit and have [a child] who's quite severely affected. Other people could drink more and actually their baby could seem not so much affected. That's why the current advice is none at all."

Why is this? "If I could answer that, I would win myself the Nobel Prize for medicine," Wright replied. "It's one of those bizarre situations. If you drink a lot in your pregnancy, then obviously you increase your chances of having many more problems, not just FASD. However, some women can drink a relatively small amount, thinking they're only having the occasional glass, and yet their baby can still be affected."