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Alcohol and smoking in pregnancy

The best advice is that pregnant women, or women trying to conceive, should avoid drinking alcohol.

Trying to conceive

If you do decide to drink, however, then make sure you do not drink more than one or two units, just once or twice a week, and don't get drunk. If you stick to this, the evidence suggests it's highly unlikely you'll harm your baby.

If you are trying to get pregnant, you need to be aware that the amount you drink can reduce your fertility and ability to conceive. Excessive drinking, especially getting drunk, can lead to a miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy.

The safest approach is not to drink at all, or at least significantly reduce your alcohol consumption. So if you're trying to become pregnant, drink no more than one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week, and avoid getting drunk.

Alcohol guidelines - how much is a unit?

One UK unit contains eight grams of pure alcohol and it's the strength and size of a drink that determines how many units it has.

If you are pregnant

When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the alcohol passes through the placenta and can affect the baby's development. This happens throughout the pregnancy, not just in the first few weeks.

Excessive drinking can lead to:

  • premature birth
  • low birth weight
  • impacting on the physical and mental development of the child, a condition known as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).

Women are strongly advised to not drink alcohol in the first three months of pregnancy because there may be an increased risk of miscarriage. Getting drunk is particularly risky. The advice is to avoid alcohol or drink no more than one or two units, once or twice a week.

Alcohol and breastfeeding

Alcohol passes to the baby in small amounts in breast milk. The milk will smell different to the baby and may affect their feeding, sleeping or digestion. The best advice is to avoid drinking shortly before a baby's feed.

Whether you're breastfeeding or not, the recommended daily benchmark for women of between two and three units of alcohol a day is a useful guide. The benchmark applies whether you drink every day, once or twice a week, or occasionally.

GP advice

Your doctor, can help you to get advice and a referral to services for help with an alcohol or drug addiction problem.

Smoking

Smoking while pregnant not only damages your own health, but can also harm your baby.

It has been linked to a variety of health problems, including:

  • premature birth
  • low birth weight
  • cot death, miscarriage
  • breathing problems/wheezing in the first six months of life

If you stop smoking during pregnancy, you will have less morning sickness and fewer complications.

Giving up smoking

If you're trying to give up smoking, also encourage those around you to do the same. Secondhand smoke contains poisonous gases, tar and toxic chemicals that are harmful to you and your baby's health.

Support for giving up smoking

Only you can decide to quit but you can get help and support to stay a non-smoker. The free Smoker’s helpline - 0800 85 85 85 - is a confidential support service. A specially trained person will answer your call, listen to your needs, suggest different ways of giving up smoking and can send you a free information pack.

The Smoker’s Helpline can also direct you to your local stop smoking services.

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