No amount of alcohol during pregnancy may be safe for fetus

16 February 2012

USA Today /HealthDay (1/18, Salamon) reports, "A new study pinpoints the latter half of the first trimester as a critical time in the development of" signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, " such as a smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip, small head size, unusually small-set eyes and shorter-than-average height." In addition, researchers "stressed that their research illustrates there is no safe amount of drinking during pregnancy, since the amount of drinking that produced these features in infants varied from woman to woman." The study was published online Jan. 17 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.