10% of women consume it during pregnancy, neonatologists ‘there is no safe dose’

2023-09-08 15:20:07

“Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is common in many countries and approximately 10% of women in the general population consume alcohol during pregnancy,” according to the “Istisan 23/3 Reports” of the Higher Institute of Health. But “since a dose of alcohol that is certainly risk-free during pregnancy has not yet been established”, on the occasion of the World Day of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Related Disorders (9 September), the Italian Society of Neonatology (Sin) reiterates that “it is advisable to completely abstain” from alcohol “during the entire period” of gestation. On the eve of the anniversary, experts launch an appeal: to raise awareness among future mothers with an ad hoc campaign about the risks of consuming alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.

“Women – explains Sin in a note – are at a higher risk of developing a substance use disorder (DUS) during the fertile period compared to men, because in the phenomenon of ‘addiction’ there is a gender difference that makes them more likely to progress from sporadic use to problematic use and, ultimately, to full-blown substance use disorder.” But during pregnancy “the chronic consumption of excessive quantities of alcohol can cause serious problems for mother and newborn, increasing the risk of spontaneous abortion, intrauterine death, sudden cot death syndrome, preterm birth, low birth weight”, list the neonatologists .

“In particular – they add – it may be responsible for the onset of defects in fetal development affecting various organs and systems and for disabilities in infantile neurocognitive development. These disabilities, resulting from exposure to ethanol in utero, are known as of the fetal alcohol spectrum (Fasd) and Fas, or feto-alcohol syndrome, is the most serious clinical form. Within the complex picture of Fas – continue the specialists – alcoholic substances can also cause neonatal abstinence syndrome ( San), a pathological condition caused by the abrupt cessation of the effect of these substances, chronically taken by the mother during pregnancy and transferred to the fetus via the placenta”.

‘In the EU, the highest rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the world’

“Although there are effective interventions to limit and prevent alcohol-related risks, in Europe many pregnant women continue to drink and there are still few actions underway at regional and national level”, note the Italian neonatologists. “From the Istisan 23/3 reports – they point out – it can be seen that the European Union has the highest rates of FASD in the world, over 2.5 times the global average”.

“For years, as the Italian Society of Neonatology – declares the president Sin, Luigi Orfeo – together with the Ministry of Health and the Higher Institute of Health, we have hoped to increase awareness in pregnant women, of childbearing age and who are planning a pregnancy , through communication and prevention campaigns. It is in fact important to guarantee the most correct, immediate and exhaustive information possible, which makes women aware, avoiding exposing them and their unborn children to the risks of avoidable damage, supporting a more healthy and eliminating alcohol consumption”.