Binge Drinking Increases Chances of Premature Birth

Just last week, a study revealed the relation between a pregnant woman’s consumption of alcohol and the chances of the baby becoming prone to alcoholism in teen years. Now, a new research shows that binge drinking in the first three months of pregnancy increases considerably the risk of premature birth.

The study collected data on the drinking habit of 4,719 women who gave birth in Western Australia between 1995 and 1997, showing that expectant mothers who drank heavily in the first three months were exposed to an almost double risk of giving birth prematurely, with a rate of almost 10 percent. Strangely enough, if the women stopped taking any alcohol three months after conception, that percentage did not go down, increasing to a little over 13.

Researchers are currently unable to explain this strange occurrence, especially since the women in question did not touch alcohol once after binge drinking for three months. They do believe, however, that they might have stopped drinking for medical reasons, which, in turn, could have led to premature birth. On the same note, women who drank lightly, meaning no more than six drinks a week during pregnancy, were exposed to the same risk of giving birth prematurely as those who abstained from alcohol throughout the entire period.

The study, while failing to make all the connections between alcohol and premature birth, does hint that “Alcohol may trigger a metabolic or inflammatory response resulting in premature delivery,” as the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports. The same publication also reveals that smoking is also linked to giving birth before due time, an aspect that was already common knowledge.

For more clarity, the study considers binge drinking or heavy consumption of alcohol as taking “more than seven standard drinks a week or more than five drinks on any one occasion – with one drink meaning around one unit of alcohol or a small glass of wine,” the British Daily Mail informs.