Even low levels of alcohol during preganancy is harmful:

Mothers who drink even low levels of alcohol during pregnancy could permanently damage their children's intelligence, research suggests.

The study of seven-and-a-half-year-olds by scientists in Detroit found lower IQ scores, and memory and problem-solving difficulties among those who had had low-level exposure to alcohol during pregnancy.

The research, which the Department of Health says it wants to consider, appears to challenge current British Government advice that pregnant women can safely consume one to two units of alcohol a week.

It has long been established that serious problems such as severe learning difficulties and physical abnormalities can occur when women drink large amounts of alcohol during pregnancy, leading to foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

Now American scientists say more research is needed to look at the damage caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol at lower levels.

("Just a few drinks in pregnancy could harm baby", The Independent, Aug.15)