The women submitted monthly urine samples to assess pregnancy status, and their monthly cycle phases were calculated on a calendar basis and compared between drinkers and nondrinkers.
During the study, 133 women became pregnant, and the results showed an effect of alcohol – the more alcohol a woman drank, the less likely she was to get pregnant. “For heavy drinkers, the likelihood of getting pregnant was 27.2% and that rose to 41.3% for nondrinkers. Both light and moderate drinkers had a 32% chance of getting pregnant, ”says Taylor.
When the researchers examined the effects of alcohol consumption at different stages of the menstrual cycle, they found that moderate and heavy drinking in the post-ovulation period reduced the chance of conception by almost half (44% and 49%, respectively) compared to nondrinkers . There was also evidence that heavy drinking before ovulation was also linked to a decreased chance of conception.
How about binge drinking? Notably, each additional day of excessive ingestion for a short period of time was linked to a 19% decrease in conception around ovulation and between ovulation and menstruation. But it didn’t seem to have any effect at the beginning of the cycle, before ovulation.
The researchers also found that the type of alcoholic beverage did not change the results.
“The study also showed that the length of the menstrual cycle in women was the same across all drinking categories, suggesting that drinking does not affect the hormones that regulate cycle length,” said Christine Metz, PhD, professor at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY.
The authors believe that part of the link between alcohol and conception may be disruptive changes in steroid hormones, particularly increases in estradiol, a form of estrogen
“The rise in estrogen can lead to irregular cycles, delayed ovulation, or anovulation. Couples could be trying to get pregnant at the wrong time, ”says Taylor. “An increase in the level of estrogen can also affect the timing of the time window of the uterine lining for implantation after fertilization.”
Experts are not entirely sure how an inconvenient rise in estradiol levels could affect the likelihood of conception. While this is not clearly understood, it appears that timing for heavy drinking can suppress not only ovulation but the ability to maintain an early pregnancy as well, Ali notes.
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