Do: Abstain during pregnancy.
Despite a recent British study reporting that light drinking during pregnancy may not affect the behavioral or cognitive development of the baby, avoiding alcohol is the safest choice. The research is too inconsistent to warrant the risk. Take, for example, a 2012 study that found that even at levels considered moderate, in utero exposure to alcohol was associated with deficits in a child's intelligence: Eight-year-old children whose mothers had one to six drinks per week while pregnant had lower IQs than children of teetotaling moms.
From the
August 2013 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
