The most recent version of the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol was released by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 2020.
For women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding, the advice is clear: no alcohol is the safest option.
It may also be useful to know that the previous edition of the guidelines, were not as clear about the risk of fetal alcohol exposure. The 2001 guidelines advised that women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, and breastfeeding ‘may consider not drinking at all’ and ‘should never become intoxicated’. Unfortunately, some health professionals still refer to this out-dated advice.
For further information on the current 2020 guidelines and the research that supports them, click here.
Summary of alcohol guidelines to reduce the risk of short and long-term harm
Guideline 1: Reducing the risk of alcohol-related harm for adults
To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
The less you drink, the lower your risk of harm from alcohol.
Guideline 2: Children and people under 18 years of age
To reduce the risk of injury and other harms to health, children and people under 18 years of age should not drink alcohol.
Guideline 3: Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
A. To prevent harm from alcohol to their unborn child, women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol.
B. For women who are breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest for their baby.
It may also be useful to know that the previous edition of the guidelines, published in 2001, was not as clear about the risk of fetal alcohol exposure. The 2001 guidelines advised that women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, and breastfeeding ‘may consider not drinking at all’ and ‘should never become intoxicated’. Unfortunately, some health professionals still refer to this out-dated advice.
For further information on the current 2009 guidelines and the research that supports them, click here.