LONDON: Pregnant women who drink alcohol are exposing their babies to the risk of epilepsy, a study has shown.

Researchers found that children born with a condition caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb are more likely to suffer from debilitating seizures.

They looked at 425 people aged between two and 49 who had foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Fewer than 1 per cent of people develop epilepsy, but 6 per cent of those with FASD had it and 12 per cent had experienced at least one seizure.

The researchers from Queens University in Ontario, Canada, believe being exposed to alcohol while in the womb damages parts of the developing brain associated with seizures.

Dr Dan Savage, a neuroscientist at the University of New Mexico, said: 'This report builds on a growing body of evidence that maternal drinking during pregnancy may put a child at greater risk for an even wider variety of neurological and behavioural health problems than we had appreciated before.

'The consensus recommendation of scientists and clinical investigators, along with public health officials around the world, is very clear - a woman should abstain from drinking during pregnancy as part of an overall programme of good prenatal care.'