Alcohol at the time of conception increases the risk of miscarriage

Couples should avoid alcohol when they are considering becoming parents, according to a published in the "American Journal of Epidemiology" which highlights the risk of miscarriage Danish study which outlines the alcohol consumption moment of conception, both the man by the woman.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol through alcohol consumption by pregnant women, interferes, you know, with the harmonious development of the child's brain and leads to structural and functional alterations causing disturbances the long term.

But we do not know precisely the impact of alcohol expectant parents at the time of conception.

In a study of 430 Danish couples considering for the first time to become parents, Tine Brink Henriksen, unity perinatal epidemiological research in the department of gynecology and obstetrics at the Aarhus University Hospital, and colleagues other services of this institution and the National Hospital of Copenhagen, have examined the association between alcohol consumption at the time of conception and the risk of miscarriage.

Couples have been followed until the occurrence of a pregnancy for 6 months. Each month they had to answer a questionnaire on their alcohol consumption as well as various other risk factors known to promote miscarriage.

The urine of women were also collected daily for ten days after vaginal bleeding.

Of the 186 recorded pregnancies, 131 resulted in the birth of a newborn and 55 to a miscarriage, two thirds of which were detected by urinary hCG.

Consuming at least 10 alcoholic drinks by women has been associated with a risk of miscarriage two to three times higher, compared to abstinence, say the authors. In men, this consumption also led to a rise in the risk by a factor of two to five.

Once a birth is programmed, so the woman's interest to stop drinking alcoholic beverages, and that until the end of her pregnancy. It is also strongly recommended to his partner greatly reduce its own consumption to increase the chances of fertilization, the authors conclude.