Report on recent advice to pregnant women about alcohol consumption here - the latest recommendation being not to drink at all whilst pregnant.
But: ” the National Childbirth Trust said there was not enough scientific evidence to back the move. Mary Newburn, head of policy, said: “It’s easy to say don’t drink to be on the safe side. But to be on the safe side of not crashing you shouldn’t get in a car.” She added: “The question is, is the evidence strong enough to say don’t drink at all? At the moment I haven’t seen that evidence. Pregnant women need more evidence and less advice.”"
This raises some of the issues discussed in Bordo’s article ‘Are mothers persons?’, (In her Unbearable Weight (1995)), in which she mentions a case in which a pregnant woman spent a night in a prison cell, having drunk a glass of wine in a restaurant. She also discusses various legal cases in which the US courts have failed to accord pregnant women the same rights to bodily integrity as other citizens.
More on mothers and foetus’ rights, in the US, here (this article is comprehensive, though relatively old. More recent stuff here)
It’s been fascinating to see the way these recommendations have been couched: they admit there’s no evidence that light or even moderate drinking causes problems, but insist that “women need clear guidance”. (Because our tiny brains can handle “no drinks” but can’t cope with “1-2 drinks per week”?) Elizabeth Armstrong’s _Conceiving Risk, Bearing Responsibility_ is a fascinating study of the history of thought on foetal alcohol syndrome. Really great case study for those doing feminist philosophy of science.
Interesting piece on alcohol and pregnancy by Zoe Williams in today’s Guardian: ttp://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2090058,00.html
couldn’t get that link to work – I think this is the same article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2090057,00.html
[...] talked about it before, here, here and here, but there is new research, reported in Slate that the occasional glass of something alcoholic [...]