Pregnant Women’s Drinking Linked to Infant Leukemia : Science File / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science and the environment

Babies born to women who drink alcohol during the last six months of pregnancy are 10 times more likely to develop leukemia during infancy, Minnesota researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Infant leukemia is extremely rare, even with the steep increase associated with drinking mothers. But researcher Xiao-Ou Shu of the University of Minnesota said the study emphasizes that pregnancy and alcohol should not be mixed.

The alcohol study is based on interviews with the parents of 302 children who developed leukemia by the age of 18 months. For comparison, the researchers also interviewed the parents of 558 healthy children. Only about three babies per 100,000 live births develop leukemia before 18 months in the United States. Shu said her research showed that the rate increases to about 32 babies per 100,000 live births among drinking mothers.