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What Is Likelihood That Child Will Have Mental Retardation If Mother Had Binge Drinking Episode?

Posted on Thu, 22 Aug 2013

Question: I would like a second opinion from an OBGYN regarding a pregnancy related question.

What is the likelihood that a child will have significant mental retardation if the child's mother had a binge drinking episode (more than 10 drinks on one occasion, over 5 to 6 hours) about 2 weeks after the baby was conceived?

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (8 days later)

Hi XXXXXXX
Glad to hear from you.
I would say that from a single such episode ( provided you are 100 % sure that it was just a single episode ), the likelihood is quite low that the child would have significant mental retardation.
Please go through this link, where the one particular line in the paragraph on " CONCLUSION " would be of special interest to you.

WWW.WWWW.WW
There are various studies in this area, all inconclusive, but this article is a recent scientific derivation in this area.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Aarti Abraham (55 minutes later)

What are the odds of significant mental retardation if the woman had 10 drinks on one occasion and then had 4 or 5 drinks on another occasion 48 hours later? But the last drinking episode was at 16 or 17 days post-conception? Is it a certainty that there would be mental retardation if it was more than one occasion of drinking alcohol?

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (4 hours later)

With two episodes, the risk is not significant at all. However, if binge drinking was a habit in early pregnancy, the risks of mental retardation increases; however there is no certainty.

You may look into this for additional details
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2007/November/Pages/Bingedrinkingwhilepregnantcontroversy.aspx

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Aarti Abraham (7 hours later)

Thank you for your response. I would like to clarify what you said in your last message - "if binge drinking was a habit in early pregnancy, the risks of mental retardation increases; however there is no certainty."

Are you saying that it is uncertain whether a child would exhibit mental retardation if his or her mother drank heavily on multiple occasions in early pregnancy?

I understand that the risks are higher with the more alcohol that is consumed, I just wanted to clarify what you meant regarding "no certainty."

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (32 minutes later)

No certainty means that it is not a 100 % association.
THe risks are higher with the amount of alcohol consumed, but that does not mean that ALL children born to women who consume such levels of alcohol would have mental retardation.
IT is a likelihood, not a sureshot event.
Thats what I meant.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vasanth