HC Deb 20 December 1983 vol 51 cc208-9W
Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what research he is aware of regarding the potential dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy; and if he will make a statement;

(2) if he has any plans to revise his Department's advice that there is no conclusive evidence that moderate drinking by pregnant women is a hazard to their unborn children; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

[pursuant to his reply, 14 December 1983, c. 505–6]: Recognising wide public and professional concern about possible adverse effects on the foetus of a moderate intake of alcohol during pregnancy, the Department asked the relevant professional bodies to review the risks in the light of all the available information, including research. That review is now complete and I welcome this opportunity to inform the House of our conclusions about the present state of knowledge.

There is no doubt that heavy drinking, whether regular or occasional, can harm the foetus and should be avoided during pregnancy or when pregnancy is contemplated. Our published advice—[Vol. 13, c. 457–58]—has covered this point for some years.

Expert opinion is divided as to the extent to which lighter alcohol intakes are harmful to the foetus and whether there is a threshhold below which it is safe to drink, but there is no doubt that alcohol passes from the mother to the foetus, In one British investigation, an intake of 10 single drinks per week was associated with a significant increased risk of bearing a baby of low birthweight, which therefore starts life at a disadvantage. Drinking at, or above, this level when pregnancy is contemplated or during pregnancy should be avoided. Women who both drink and smoke have an even greater risk of low birthweight.

Whether drinking at these levels has other effects on the foetus has not been established. Neither has it been established that lesser amounts are safe, and there does seem sense in keeping alcohol consumption as low as possible during pregnancy or when pregnancy is contemplated.

I am medically advised that if we were, in the present state of knowledge, to issue strong advice ruling out any alcohol during pregnancy, there would be a real danger of causing unjustified, and possibly harmful, feelings of guilt and anxiety in women who, after having taken some alcohol, produce a baby which is dysmature or with an abnormality which could have been due to alcohol but well might not have been. It is essential that health education messages about the possible adverse effects of a light or moderate use of alcohol during pregnancy are so devised and presented as to avoid giving rise to a disproportionate degree of anxiety or guilt. The facts are inconclusive and therefore, once a woman has been made aware of the risks, she should be allowed to make up her own mind without exhortations which the evidence does not support.

The Health Education Council, in the light of their expertise in health education, has been invited to join the Department in considering how best to ensure that the state of knowledge can be communicated to those who need it.

Period Child dependency addition uprated by method used in 1979 for the year in question only Child dependency addition uprated by 1979 method in each subsequent year
Short-term Long-term Short-term Long-term
£million £million £million £million
November 1980 to November 1981 21 15 21 15
November 1981 to November 1982 16 8 38 24
November 1982 to November 1983 14 12 48 40
November 1983 to November 1984 5 37 49

These figures do not take account of offsetting savings on supplementary benefit expenditure.

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