Drinking in pregnancy and children's problems

In the U.K. the National Health Service advises pregnant women to not drink at all, or, if they do, to drink very little and this approach seems to be vindicated by research from Australia which studied the links between drinking in pregnancy and children's mental and physical health later. The research - carried out by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research - surveyed 2,000 women and children asking mothers about their drinking habits during pregnancy and their children's health at two, five and eight. The study found that moderate drinking in the first third of pregnancy doubled the chance of a child becoming anxious or depressed while drinking more than a bottle of wine a week trebled the risk. Drinking later in pregnancy was more likely to make a child aggressive and to increase the risk of children suffering from 'general aches and pains'.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6630115/Moderate-drinking-while-pregnant-doubles-risk-of-child-becoming-depressed.html