Impact of alcohol consumption on the health of pregnant women and their children – a review of studies

Abstract

Introduction: Alcohol is one of the strongest teratogens. Since the 1960s, information campaigns have been conducted to address its harmful effect and promote quitting drinking, especially by pregnant women. The aim of this paper includes a review of literature concerning research on alcohol use by pregnant women and learning about their knowledge of the detrimental effects of ethanol on the health of themselves and their unborn children. This paper shall also assess social campaigns devoted to informing this group of women about the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Description of state of knowledge: The review explicitly confirmed data on the harmful effect of alcohol on the formation of morphological and behavioural changes stigmatising children, which are not always visible from birth, and often take the form characteristic of foetal alcohol syndrome only in schoolchildren. The results of molecular and psychological tests have raised the question as to whether the acceptable limits for blood alcohol content in pregnant women should be established. The toxic effects of alcohol and its metabolites depend not only on the amount consumed, but also on the body condition, style of drinking, and age. Summary: Studies covering 11 European countries have shown that drinking alcohol during pregnancy is more and more common, especially in better-educated women with higher earnings and from larger cities. Therefore, information campaigns that stress the harmfulness of the so-called risky drinking by pregnant women should be targeted primarily at this group.