There is no safe amount of alcohol for a pregnant woman, warned a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on drinking and pregnancy that suggested women of childbearing age should be using some form of contraception.
Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, told
USA Today that women could harm their children by drinking even before they know they are pregnant.
"Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant," said Schuchat. "About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won't know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking. The risk is real. Why take the chance?"
The CDC report, posted on the
agency's website Tuesday, said alcohol use in pregnancy is tied to low birthweight, preterm birth, birth defects, and developmental disabilities. The agency said women wanting to become pregnant should halt using alcohol when they end contraception.
"Alcohol is a known teratogen that can cause adverse reproductive outcomes for women, and serious, lifelong problems for a person exposed to it prenatally," said the CDC study. "These risks occur throughout pregnancy, including the period before a woman knows that she is pregnant."
"All types of alcohol are harmful. To help prevent adverse consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, health care providers should discuss and recommend, as appropriate, available contraception methods, including condoms to protect against sexually transmitted diseases, to women who are sexually active and drink alcohol."
Another CDC report in September pointed to concern of pregnant women who admitted to binge drinking, noted
U.S. News and World Report. That study showed that about one-third of the women who drank during pregnancy were involved in binge drinking.
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