Australia launches first study on safe drinking level for pregnant women

Australia launched the first national study to find out whether low to moderate levels of alcohol drank by pregnant women are harmful or not to an unborn child, hoping to provide a clear indication about the safe amount of alcohol for pregnant women. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, which commissioned the study, is recruiting 2000 pregnant women who will be quizzed throughout their pregnancy about their drinking habits, general health and diets. Their babies will then undergo medical checks, when they turn one and again at two to see if their brains, development and behavior was affected by alcohol consumed by their mums. According to lead researcher associate professor, Jane Halliday, while there was solid evidence about the dangers of heavy drinking for an unborn baby, it was not known if there was a safe amount of alcohol pregnant women could drink. She said the study hoped to shed light on the best approach to alcohol use during pregnancy. "The problem is that for about half of women that get pregnant it is unplanned, and a lot of women are drinking around the time they get pregnant and may drink for the first month or so and that creates a lot of anxiety," Assoc Prof Halliday said in a statement. "From the few international and Australian studies there's conflicting evidence as to whether there's an adverse effect. "We firmly believe that no drinking is the safest option, but our main aim is to provide an evidence base to the policy and answer questions about individual risks." The study came after research by the University of Newcastle published in 2010 revealed 80 percent of Australian women drank during pregnancy.