Information for a Healthy Pregnancy: Alcohol

When you drink, so does your baby.

When you are pregnant, every time you drink a glass of beer, wine or spirits, your baby is drinking the alcohol too. All alcohol is carried by your bloodstream, through the placenta, to your baby. There is no safe level of alcohol use in pregnancy. The best advice is to stop drinking if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.

How can alcohol affect my baby?

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy increases the chances that your baby will not grow properly, or will be more difficult to look after. For example, they may be hyperactive or have learning problems.

Your baby is most vulnerable to the effects of alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy. Later on in pregnancy, alcohol can still have a serious effect on growth and brain development.

Plunket advises that it is best not to drink at all when you are breastfeeding. Alcohol passes to your baby in your breast milk and their brains cells are still forming. When you drink, less milk is produced and the alcohol can also make your baby irritable and unsettled.