Why Pregnant Women should avoid Alcohol.

In the eastern part of Nigeria, Delta, Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom States, many pregnant women take alot of alcohol due partly to popular belief that alcohol  use is 'preparatory to having healthy babies'.

A traditional birth attendant resident in the eastern part of Nigeria , affirmed that alcohol consumption is the 'in thing'. She said 'if you don't take lager or vodka in pregnancy, then you have not arrived that is, ready for a safe delivery.

While in the south western part of Nigeria, where pregnant women do not so much consume raw alcohol, they however do so indirectly through the use of medicinal concoctions called agbo and related beverages called ''healthy bitters''.

But how healthy is alcohol for an Unborn Baby?

For decades, researchers around the world have known that heavy drinking during pregnancy could cause birth defects. But the potential effects of small amount of alcohol like a glass of champagne during Christmas on a developing baby are not well understood.

Their warning is however precise, 'The problem with drinking alcohol during pregnancy is that there is no amount that has been proven to be safe '' Jacques Moritz, Director of Gynecology at St.Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York once said.

As a result of the uncertainties, The Center for Disease Control,(CDC) , the United States surgeon general , the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics have at various times advised pregnant women to drink alcohol at all.

They warned that pregnant women who drink alcohol risk giving birth to child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This condition ranges from mild to severe and includes speech and language delays, learning disabilities, abnormal facial features, small head size and many other problems.