Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/hTSGXFQJmKI   Fathers drinking alcohol during the 3 months before conception or during the first trimester bump their baby’s chances of being born with a congenital heart defect by 44%.  Binge drinking during those times raises that risk to 52%..   The meta-analysis of 55 studies covered nearly 42,000 babies born over a 28 year period.  It is the first study to examine the association between male alcohol consumption and birth defects.   The investigators recommend that men avoid alcohol for 6 months before attempting to father a child.   It is critical for both parents to avoid drugs of any kind for the months running up to conception, during the gestational period, and especially during the first trimester.   Senmao Zhang, Lesan Wang, Tubao Yang, Lizhang Chen, Lijuan Zhao, Tingting Wang, Letao Chen, Ziwei Ye, Zan Zheng, Jiabi Qin. Parental alcohol consumption and the risk of congenital heart diseases in offspring: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of