Alcohol use before pregnancy linked to intestinal birth defect
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 17:01
in Health & Medicine
Women should refrain from drinking alcohol before they try to become pregnant, according to maternal-fetal medicine specialists. Alcohol is associated with an increased risk for mental delays, cardiac anomalies and facial clefting in babies. In a recent study, researchers also found that alcohol is linked to gastroschisis, a birth defect of the baby's abdominal wall. "Preconception programs focused on alcohol abstinence may help to reverse the increasing incidence of this birth defect worldwide," said one researcher.