Drinking by Men or Women Affects Miscarriage Risk

Women who are thinking about becoming pregnant are usually advised to stay away from alcoholic beverages. Now, new research suggests that their partners should do the same.

In a Danish study, alcohol drinking by men or women during the conception period increased the likelihood of a miscarriage.

Studies in animals have suggested that high doses of alcohol given to males and females around the time of conception or early in the pregnancy increase fetal death, but the association has been less clear in humans.

Dr. Tine Brink Henriksen, of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues followed 430 couples who were attempting a first-time pregnancy. The study participants were all 20 to 35 years old.

A total of 186 pregnancies occurred during the study period, of which 55 ended in spontaneous abortion and 131 resulted in childbirth, the investigators report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Women who reported consuming 10 or more drinks per week at the time of conception were nearly three times more likely to experience a miscarriage than those who had not consumed any wine, spirits, or beer at the time of conception.

When men consumed 10 or more weekly drinks at the time of conception, their partners' risk of spontaneous abortion was up to five times greater than it was for women whose male partners did not drink, the report indicates.

The reason for the association between drinking among males and spontaneous abortion is not fully understood. However, studies have shown that alcohol consumption is associated with chromosomal abnormalities in sperm cells, and many aborted fetuses are known to have chromosomal abnormalities.

What's more, the concentration of alcohol in semen -- where its presence can be detected relatively quickly after it is ingested -- is similar to its concentration in the blood, the researchers note.

"In conclusion, we found that both male and female alcohol intakes during the week of conception increased the risk of spontaneous abortion," Henriksen and colleagues write.

Although the study found that 10 or more drinks was associated with spontaneous abortions, Dr. George Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association says he does not want women thinking they can safely consume up to nine drinks per week.

On the other hand, Benjamin, who was not involved with the study, said the findings can be used to reassure women who, for example, consumed alcohol at a dinner party two weeks before finding out they were pregnant.

"If I was their doctor," he told Reuters Health, "I could comfort them more and advise them more about the outcome of their pregnancy."

Still, "I did not say it (alcohol drinking) was safe," Benjamin said. He added that since it is known that alcohol consumption can contribute to birth defects, prematurity, low birthweight, and fetal alcohol syndrome, prevention of these conditions is very important.

"If we can get people to stop drinking during pregnancy," he said, it would "impact on those birth defects."

"Women who are thinking about becoming pregnant are usually advised to stay away from alcoholic beverages. Now, new research suggests that their partners should do the same"

Yeah yeah, we heard ince or twice an hour for the past 15 years that alcohol and tobacco are bad for our unborn babies...that must be why the Democrats are now paying voter fraudsters in crack cocain.

Seriously, I'm sick of all the bogus crisis hype every day. Neither of my daughters nor their spouses are drinkers, yet one daughter had a miscarriage last year, and both daughters have given birth prematurely...fortunately, their babies are still alive, though one is still in a NICU.

>>"Moderate" drinking is NOT beneficial to the unborn child, and never will be!

Exclamation marks do not constitute science.

>>What we know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Effects, Alcohol Related Neurological Defects, etc. is that it is a spectrum disorder. Some children are very seriously affected, while others are more mildly so.

FAS and the like occur only among the extreme skid-row drinkers, who are often also crack users.

>> It is quite possible that some kids diagnosed with simple learning disabilities, ADHD, etc., are just on the lower end of the spectrum and miss being diagnosed as having sustained damage in the womb.

It is also possible that a lot of other things are true, just because the idea can be posited. That doesn't make them true. Science needs EVIDENCE.

>>I would never, ever tell a woman that drinking alcohol in moderate amounts is safe.

Then don't. You probably aren't a doctor, so why would you be giving such advice?

>> Besides, do you realize that a serving of a glass of wine is considered something like 6 oz, but the woman who thinks she can have a glass of wine a night might be drinking three times that amount? (Ever notice how so many wine glasses are huge these days?)

You think women are incapable for telling the difference between 1/4 bottle and a 3/4 bottle? Such women might also have real trouble with the more complex aspects of parenting, I would imagine.

Don't be a nanny when the evidence doesn't support you.

From a quickie google search:
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/FAS/FAS.html
....
The guidelines of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend that "women should be careful about alcohol consumption in pregnancy and limit this to no more than one standard drink per day." 9 These conclusions appear consistent with the research findings of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a major science body in the U.S. 10

The American College of Obstreticians and Gynecologists concludes that "there is no evidence that an occasional drink is harmful. Women who drink heavily throughout pregnancy may have smaller babies with physical and mental handicaps, but women who drink moderately may have babies with no more problems than those women who drink rarely or not at all."11

This group of medical specialists points out that "It's hard to determine the amount and timing of alcohol consumption that puts the fetus at risk. One study shows that women who drank only occasionally and moderately (described in this particular study as between 1 and 45 drinks spaced out over a month) had babies with no more problems than those women who drank rarely or not at all. There were no differences either in size or number of babies' handicaps between the women who drank moderately and those who abstained or drank likely."12

The Harvard Women's Health Watch advises pregnant women that "having more than one alcoholic drink per day puts the fetus at risk for various defects and disabilities." 13 Thus, it suggests that expectant women should limit themselves to one drink per day. The health publication emphasizes that one drink is 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits or liquor.
....
footnotes to studies at the site.

Here's a point of observation from a former bartender: most of the women I was aquainted at the places I worked obviously consumes alcohol. Naturally, this sometimes led to the usual consequenses. What is never pointed out is that nearly all teh drinking women I knew did NOT know they were pregnant until sometime after missing their first period and then having the pregnancy test come back positive. They continued drinking until they knew they were pregnant. The incidence of miscarriage or abnormalities was no higher than in the tee-totaling population, which includes me, since I didn't drink during any of my pregnancies. In other words, none of the women I knew lost one or had one with abnormalities attributed to alcohol consumption.

*Note: these woman were the usual girl's night out, weekend-type drinkers.

Speaking from having been on both sides of the bar, I agree with you.

I stopped drinking alcohol when I realized I was pregnant, however the missing of the first period wasn't the clue, because I didn't miss one right away....... I know plenty of women that continued their habit of a few drinks at Friday night happy hour without any adverse effects on the baby.

Taking precautions is the best way to go.............however, the scare tactics of these types of stories probably do more harm than they do good. The stress caused by the worry over any possible harm done by the few drinks prior to knowing one is pregnant most likely causes more harm than the alcohol itself.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.