There is no known safe level of alcohol to drink in pregnancy. This doesn’t mean that any drop of alcohol you consume will have lifelong impacts on your baby – but we don’t know how much alcohol it takes to harm an unborn baby, and it may be that an amount that has no lasting effects on one māmā and pēpi may seriously affect another.
It is safest to consume no alcohol if you might be or are pregnant.
Any alcohol that you do consume will move through your blood to the baby, and we just don’t know how much it take to cause lifelong effects such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
If you have just found out you’re pregnant and have been drinking during the pregnancy, don’t panic. The best time to stop drinking is before you conceive, but the second best time is the moment you find out.
If you have trouble stopping drinking, your midwife can provide a referral for help.
For more information
- This HealthEd page has more information on alcohol and pregnancy
- This page from Amohia te Waiora has information on alcohol in hapūtanga from a Te Ao Māori perspective
- This website from the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – Care Action Network is full of information on the effects of drinking in pregnancy