Over 75% of Irish women’s pregnancies feature alcohol use - despite warnings.
More than 75 per cent of Irish women’s pregnancies involve exposure to alcohol despite warnings about the health effects of drinking, according to a new study.
Drinking during pregnancy is highly prevalent and “socially pervasive” in Ireland and other western countries, the research published in the British medical journal BMJ Open says.
More than 45 per cent of Irish women binge drink in the first trimester of their pregnancy, according to one of the three original studies reviewed for the research. The rate of binge drinking falls to just 0.4 per cent in the second trimester.
Source: Paul Cullen, The Irish Times, 07/07/15