A single incident of binge drinking while pregnant will not harm the developing of the fetus, according to a new study conducted by researchers Jane Henderson and Ron Gray of the Oxford University and Ulrik Kesmodel from the University of Aarhus in Denmark

The researchers said that there is not sufficient evidence to link binge drinking to pregnancy complications. However, the study does not give permission to women to drinking binges.

"I think the study has to be read really, really carefully in the context of what the author’s are saying. And what they're saying is that there just isn't enough information to say one way or another." said Dr. Men-Jean Lee, director of perinatal research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. “

The study revealed that women who had been drinking before they knew they were pregnant should not worry about their unborn children, said Lee who also specializes in high-risk pregnancy.

“What they’re saying is that if a woman goes on a drinking binge and finds out two weeks later she’s pregnant, she doesn’t need to have an abortion or worry about a miscarriage or birth defects,” she said.

The study identified 3,500 scientific papers between 1970 and 2005 that linked alcohol to pregnancy. Fourteen of them were focusing on binge drinking. The authors concluded that there is little substantive evidence that drinking occasionally might lead to problems such as miscarriage, stillbirth, abnormal birth weight or birth defects such as fetal alcohol syndrome.

“This systematic review found no convincing evidence of adverse effects of prenatal binge drinking, except possibly on neurodevelopment outcomes,” the authors wrote.

One of the study still suggested that binge drinking could have negative results such as slow development of the brain, reduced verbal IQ, or poorer academic performance.

The researchers said that there is need further research in order to know for sure if binge drinking has negative side effects on the fetus.

Until then, Lee advises her patients not to drink while they are pregnant: “In the U.S., we tell people no drinking, total abstinence. Because we just don’t know how much is too much.”

The new study will be published in the December issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.