Families in Recovery

Children born to women who have as little as one drink a week during pregnancy are more likely to have symptoms of behavior problems as teens, according to research published this month in the journal Pediatrics.

"If women stop drinking during pregnancy, they can save themselves a lot of heartache later. Being the parent of a child with conduct disorder is really frustrating," Dr. Elizabeth R. Disney of Chase Braxton Health Services in Baltimore, one of the researchers on the study, told Reuters Health.

Additional facts:
- 36% of boys and 10% of girls born to mothers who admitted to moderate drinking had a definite or probable behavioral diagonsis.

- Around 31% of teens born to mothers who admitted to having at least a drink a week while pregnant had conduct disorders versus 21% of kids whose mothers didn't drink.

- For mothers who had been diagnosed with alcoholism, 44% of those who drank while pregnant had kids with conduct disorder versus 20% of mothers with alcoholism who didn't drink during pregnancy.