Figures like this never cease to amaze me, because the image of a pregnant woman drinking a drink with alcohol is shocking and incomprehensible to me. But about half of pregnant women consume alcohol, according to the conclusions of a meeting organized by the National Association of Health Reporters (ANIS).
Even one in five of these women can get up to five or more drinks per occasion, which further aggravates the risk of their babies.
We already offered you data from a study that indicated that the figures were 25% pregnant, and in these conclusions, focused on Spain, the bar is raised and ensures that between 25 and 45% of women in Spain consume drinks Alcoholics during pregnancy.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause cleft lip in the baby and other birth defects, such as malformations that can affect the heart, kidneys, liver, bones ... It also reduces the size of the brain and can cause fetal death and can cause mental problems in the child, being one of the most frequent causes of mental retardation.
Neuropsychological deficits, memory and learning problems, behavioral disturbances, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or school failure are other related disorders. In addition, it is possible to change the baby's physiognomy, giving it characteristic features such as microcephaly or small head, the low nasal bridge, thin upper lip or small eye openings.
But if all this accumulation of risks were reduced to the minimum possibility of one of them, wouldn't it be enough to stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy? And what happens if it's just a drink? At the moment, there are no studies that establish the threshold of safety in alcohol consumption, so it would not be advisable in any case or quantity.
I'm sure of that high percentage of pregnant women who consume alcohol, the majority have no dependence, but they are not aware of the dangers that it may entail, or believe that the possibility of "touching" them is minimal.
