The medical world is constantly shifting guidlines for pregnancy women, and the newest change of heart comes just in time for the holidays! A glass or two of wine may actually benefit your baby, according to Epidemiology & Public Health department of University College London (UCL).

The connection between heavy drinking and “poor behavioural and cognitive outcomes in children is well established.” But what about light drinking?

Researchers found that:

• Children born to mothers who drank a little alcohol (1 to 2 units a week) while pregnant were not more likely to have behavioral difficulties or cognitive issues, compared to children born to mothers who abstained during pregnancy.

• Indeed, for some behavioral and cognitive outcomes, children born to light drinkers were less likely to have problems compared to children of mothers who abstained.

• Boys born to mothers who drank lightly were 40 per cent less likely to have “conduct” problems and 30 per cent less likely to show hyperactive behavior. (Even after adjusting for family and socioeconomic factors.)

• Boys whose mothers drank lightly while pregnant were also more likely to score higher in vocabulary tests and exercises where they had to identify colors, shapes, letters and numbers.

• Girls born to mothers who only drank a little alcohol were 30 per cent less likely to have emotional and peer problems compared to girls born to mothers who abstained, but this tendency appeared to depend partly on family and social background.

Lead author Dr Yvonne Kelly speculates on why this might be so. “Light drinkers tend to be more socially advantaged than abstainers… However, it may also be that light-drinking mothers tend to be more relaxed themselves and this contributes to better behavioral and cognitive outcomes in their children,” she added.

Until now, policy in the US and England has pushed toward total abstinence in order to be on the safe side. However, Kelly questions this:  “Our study’s findings do raise questions as to whether the current push for policy to recommend complete abstinence during pregnancy is merited and suggest that further research needs to be done.”

Either way, it seems safe to say that an occasional glass of wine will not hurt your baby. As my grandfather would say, “I’ll drink to that!”

L’Chaim!

Source: Medical News Today