Letter: Drinking is bad for would-be fathers too

Sir: The suggestion that doctors would not dare tell a drinking man who wanted to father children to cut out drinking is quite false ("Nice girls don't drink, do they?", 3 April). It is well known that heavy drinking and smoking depress the sperm count. I would always tell men in this situation that they ought to reduce both.

I advise pregnant women to drink alcohol sparingly. I am quite sure that a few glasses of wine per month do no damage at all to the foetus.

Dr GRANT WINSTOCK

London SW18