A new study has found that a father’s intake of alcohol during pregnancy can impact the mother. It is a known fact that alcohol and pregnancy do not go together. Women are constantly told that no amount of alcohol while pregnant is considered “safe,” and it is to be avoided at all costs. However, fathers are frequently told that it is fine for them to continue to drink because they are not the ones who are carrying the baby. However, some dads-to-be will refrain from drinking during pregnancy, as a sign that they support their wife and that they are in it together.

It looks like more may want to consider doing this because a study has found that dad drinking can have an impact. According to Medical Xpress, the study found that a pregnant woman’s drinking is directly linked to whether the father is drinking.

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That means that even though they should not drink during pregnancy, the risk of them drinking is higher if their partner drinks during their pregnancy. This study was done by University of Eastern Finland, and it can be read in full here.

Researchers state that their study can help medical providers make sure women stay away from alcohol while they are pregnant. That is because they can involve the father in the conversation and start to recommend that both parties refrain from drinking for the 9 months that mom is expecting.

The study was done by looking at alcohol consumption in more than 14,000 women and their partners before and during pregnancy. They ended up looking at more than 21,000 pregnancies between the years 2009 and 2018.

  • The study found that in 86% of pregnancies, the mother had reported that they drank prior to conceiving, and 4.5% consumed during pregnancies.
  • In a quarter of the pregnancies, women reported that they stopped drinking once they knew they were pregnant, so there is still a chance that the fetus was exposed to alcohol in the early stages of pregnancy.
  • When they looked at alcohol consumption before pregnancy, they found that there was a strong link between partners and their drinking habits.
  • Women who reported that they drank during pregnancy self-reported as “heavy drinkers” before they were pregnant.
  • The alcohol used during pregnancy was also linked with the partner's usage, and this has led researchers to state that the best way to protect babies in utero was to advise that both partners refrain from drinking for the duration of the pregnancy.

Sources: Medical Xpress, Wiley Online