Ireland will soon introduce health-warning labels for pregnant women on alcohol containers

16 October. Drinks Manufacturers Ireland (DMI), the umbrella body for the industry, has confirmed that it had agreed to introduce a health warning about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy on all alcohol containers sold in the Republic.

The message will be carried in an image of a pregnant woman with a diagonal red line and/or a written warning.

This agreement follows the unambiguous advice that the Irish State's Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr James Kiely, started to give last September in relation to alcohol consumption and pregnancy.

On 7 September, Dr Kiely said. "Alcohol offers no benefits to pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, it is in the child's best interest for a pregnant woman not to drink alcohol during pregnancy." And added

"Given the harmful drinking patterns in Ireland and the propensity to 'binge drink', there is a substantial risk of neurological damage to the foetus resulting in Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)[1],"

Mr Pat the Cope Gallagher T.D., Minister for Health Promotion and Food Safety, stated that he wished to endorse the advice being given by the CMO. He added that “it is essential that women are provided with all the relevant information for a safe and successful pregnancy. Therefore, women need to be aware of the risk associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy. As the evidence does not specify a safe level of alcohol consumption, the best advice to women is not to consume alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive.'

A ground-breaking study was published last year[2] that examined data from 125,945 women, found that an incredible 79 per cent of Irish-born women drank alcohol during their pregnancy, compared to 68 per cent of women from other EU countries and just 26 per cent of women born outside the EU.

The health warnings on labels are already mandatory in France and it seems that other countries in Europe will follow the French example.

Finland for instance announced last September that they as of the beginning of 2009 all the alcoholic beverages sold in that country would have to carry a warning that states "alcohol endangers the development of a fetus and your health" beginning in 2009.

Also the government of Norway recently announced in its new Plan to reduce the negative impact of alcohol and drugs that they will consider the introduction of such labels.