Psychiatrist says two studies on Irish drinking levels conducted 10 years apart ‘are telling same story’.
It is time to take action on drinking during pregnancy, with two studies 10 years apart telling the same story, psychiatrist Siobhán Barry said yesterday.
Dr Barry headed a seven-year study of more than 43,000 women attending the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin that found over 80% of women drank during their pregnancy.
“It is 10 years since we finished collecting data for the study that showed over 40% of women were completely unaware that there was a risk of drinking while pregnant,” she said.
In an international study just published, Ireland emerged as the country with the highest rates of drinking both before (90%) and during (82%) pregnancy.
The research, published in the BMJ Open, also found Ireland has the highest reported binge alcohol consumption before (59%) and during (45%) pregnancy.
Source: Evelyn Ring, Irish Examiner, 08/07/15
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