No alcohol at all during pregnancy, doctors say

Pregnant women or those trying to conceive should not drink any alcohol at all, the Government's leading doctors warn today.

The plea for total abstinence radically revises existing guidelines which say that pregnant women can drink up to two units once or twice a week. A small glass of wine is one and a half units.

The new guidelines from the Department of Health are meant to send a "strong signal" to the thousands of women who drink more than the recommended limit and are therefore putting their babies at risk. However, a spokesman for the department said the revised advice was not based on "new scientific evidence".

Fiona Adshead, deputy chief medical officer, said many women were confused about what moderation-drinking meant and were exceeding the recommended limits. "Our advice is simply: avoid alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive," she said.

The DoH also wants warnings to appear on labels on bottles of wine, spirits and beer.

The change brings Britain into line with a growing list of countries which recommend abstinence, including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. France joined them last autumn, saying research had linked moderate levels of drinking with permanent foetal brain damage.

About 1 in 1,000 babies are born with foetal alcohol syndrome each year worldwide, resulting in retardation, poor memory and in the worst cases, facial abnormalities.

Some campaigners have insisted that even the occasional glass of wine can lead to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder syndrome, a milder condition and an umbrella term for a range of problems including physical, mental and behavioural problems. The National Organisation on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome estimates that more than 6,000 children are born in the UK each year with the syndrome.

Because many women do not know they are pregnant for the first months, the advice was extended to those trying to conceive as well.

However, yesterday the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it intended to stick with its advice that moderate drinking was safe. A spokesman said: "It remains our advice that one to two units once or twice a week is not harmful to baby or mother."

In the past, midwives regularly told pregnant women to drink up to eight units a week and often recommended Guinness stout to prevent anaemia.