Survey: Percentage of pregnant binge drinkers 'unchanged'

ATLANTA - The percentage of pregnant American women who reported binge drinking hardly budged during the late 1990s, frustrating health officials who warn of the risk of birth defects. <br> <br> A survey of pregnant women by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 2.7 percent admitted binge drinking - five or more drinks at a time - in 1999, down only slightly from 2.9 percent in 1995. <br> <br> However, drinking overall among pregnant women fell from 16.3 percent to 12.8 percent over the same period. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re most concerned about frequent drinking and binge drinking because these are the patterns consistently related to adverse outcomes for the child,&#39;&#39; said Dr. Louise Floyd, a CDC birth defects expert. <br> <br> Drinking while pregnant can cause birth defects and brain disorders in children. The CDC urged doctors to warn women of childbearing age about the danger. <br> <br> Drinking by pregnant women still lags far behind drinking by nonpregnant women. Fifty-three percent of women who were not pregnant reported some drinking in 1999, and about 12 percent reported binge drinking.