According to a review of three international multicenter cohort studies, nearly 75 percent of women in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia reported drinking during pregnancy—with 33 percent of women in the UK even binge drinking while pregnant. While this plague of disregard for unborn babies hasn’t reached the Los Angeles or the rest of the United States yet, could it potentially travel to our own country?
Many believe the reason for this common atrocity is because of conflicting guidelines. The guidelines in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand recommend women abstain from alcohol use while pregnant.
However, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the UK say that it’s fine to drink up to two drinks two times a week during the second and third trimesters.
Therefore, confusion ensues and young mothers do not understand that their own alcohol consumption could lead their child to treatment centers down the road. Although the UK does not necessarily speak for Ireland and Australia, it is a very influential system that many in these countries adhere to.
Although the persuasion hasn’t reached America yet, could people in Los Angeles see pregnant mothers drinking in England and think it’s OK? The CDC continues to maintain, however, that there is no known safe consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
Drinking while pregnant can cause stillbirth, a miscarriage and lifelong disabilities for the unborn baby. It can even inflict addiction upon the child, possibly putting treatment centers in their future.
Hopefully the trend will never each Los Angeles or anywhere else in the United States, as there is no doubt that drinking while pregnant can be extremely harmful.
