“Celebrating pregnancy without alcohol” is the new campaign launched by the Ministry of Health, with the aim of reaching out to pregnant women and making them aware of the risks of drinking when pregnant.

“Alcohol crosses from the mother’s blood into the baby’s blood, so anytime a pregnant women drinks, her unborn baby drinks too,” said Health Minister Joe Cassar. “The unborn baby does not have a fully developed liver, so the alcohol circulates longer in the baby’s blood system,” he said.

The safest choice, he said was to stop drinking even before pregnancy. He said it was also best to avoid alcohol while breast-feeding because it is passed to the baby through breast milk.

He also urged fathers-to-be to show their support to their wives: “The father can have a tremendous influence on his partner’s drinking habits by choosing not to drink.”

Parent Craft services co-ordinator Louise Bugeja cautioned against alarming expectant mothers who might have consumed alcohol before they knew they were pregnant. “The important thing is that they stop now,” she said.

“Before we used to say that it was safe to consume up to two units, however we know now that there is no known safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy, so it is safest not to drink at all,” she said. 

The campaign will consists mainly of radio adverts and the distribution of pamphlets, which suggests to expectant mothers and fathers to live a healthy lifestyle, relax with good music or walks.