(WHAS11) - A new study shows that pregnant women may be able to have up to eight alcoholic beverages a week without harming their developing child.
Doctors say this study could provide relief to women who drank alcohol before they knew they were pregnant or to those who have a rare glass of wine at a special occasion.
Despite this new information, doctors also say abstaining is still the best practice.
"We know for a fact there is no benefit to the fetus if the mother consumes alcohol and there's a risk....We do know that alcohol is a toxin. My obstetrician answer is don't consume any alcohol at all for the 40 weeks you are pregnant," says Dr. Jennifer Ashton, OB-GYN.
The study looked at more than 1,600 pregnant women who drank one to eight drinks a week. Five years later, their children did not perform any differently on organizational and IQ tests than children whose mothers did not drink.
