YourSpine.com - Chiropractic - Medical School Textbooks: Drinking While Pregnant OK

Medical School Textbooks: Drinking While Pregnant OK

A study in the July 2002 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that despite much information to the contrary, many textbooks used in medical schools still say that it is OK for pregnant women to drink.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University reviewed 81 obstetrics textbooks that are currently used in medical schools. Only 14 of them recommended pregnant women not drink at all during pregnancy. When they reviewed the 29 books published since 1991, only 7 of them (24%) recommended no alcohol during pregnancy. More than half of the textbooks contained at least one statement that condoned drinking during pregnancy. Some of the books simply skipped the subject entirely.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause physical and mental birth defects. According to lead researcher Dr. Mary Nettleman, “All the major organizations, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics…advocate zero drinking during pregnancy.”

Change Zip Code Close