ABSTRACT
Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are often referred to as so-called ‘social drugs’. The effects of these agents on human pregnancy outcome and breastfeeding have been studied quite extensively. A large number of published studies attest to the harmful effects of alcohol during human pregnancy, and a number of reviews have been published. The precise effects of maternal drinking are hard to evaluate because it is almost impossible to separate the effects of alcohol from confounding factors such as smoking, socio-economic status, ethnicity and diet. The effects include cardiac, urogenital and neuro-anatomical anomalies as well as attention deficit disorders. The association between frequent drinking and these abnormalities remains controversial. The fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) occurs in babies born to women who are dependent on alcohol. Alcohol enters breast milk, reaching a concentration that approximates to that in the maternal plasma.
