If men who want to have children drink alcohol before conceiving, the risk of birth defects in the baby increases by 35 percent. This is the result of an observational study involving more than half a million couples. Staying sober together is worth it!
It is now common knowledge that women who want to become pregnant should better hold back their after-work-crying. But men who want to have children should also be extremely cautious with alcohol until conception. According to the latest findings, regular consumption of alcohol – even in moderate amounts – leads to sperm abnormalities. If fertilization is successful, these could promote birth defects such as cleft palate, heart disease or deformed and missing limbs in the newborn.
Alcohol and the desire to have children in men – a new field of research
While the connection between alcohol consumption and birth defects in women is now considered to be very well researched, research on this in men is still in its infancy. Of course, women shouldn’t touch a drop during pregnancy, while men apparently ideally should do so six months earlier. A Chinese study, which was recently published in the specialist journal «JAMA Pediatrics», comes to the proverbially sobering conclusion that just one drink a week impairs sperm quality, which increases the risk of fetal malformations.
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Survey with 529,090 couples
The researchers surveyed 529,090 couples who wanted to become pregnant within six months. Of the participating fathers in Spe, 364,939 stated that they did not drink alcohol or that they drank at most one day per week. The remaining 164,151 men accordingly had a more pronounced drinking behavior. The reported birth defects were then evaluated.
Among the fathers who regularly consumed wine, beer and the like, there were 363 birth defects. Among teetotal fathers, there were 246 birth defects. That makes a 35 percent higher rate among alcohol-drinking men. In addition, babies were 55 percent more likely to develop cleft palate if their father drank regularly before conception.
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Men who don’t drink produce healthier babies
According to the study report, there is strong evidence that paternal drinking before conception can damage sperm and increase the likelihood of birth defects. However, it is still unclear why paternal drinking damages the genetic make-up. However, a 2020 review of 55 studies came to a similar conclusion. This showed that the babies of heavy drinking fathers were born with heart defects more often than average.
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Another study speaks of three months abstinence for healthier sperm
Studies like this make it clear that the issue of having children is real teamwork. With abstinence rules that apparently apply equally to both partners. Nevertheless, the «6-month rule» proposed in the study should not be viewed too narrowly. What is also well-studied is the fact that sperm take about three months to fully recover. Incidentally, the same applies to the female egg cell. The abstinence from alcohol, nicotine and other toxins has already paid off after a quarter of a year.