BLOKES should avoid booze six months before trying for a baby, medics claim.
A major review found it is not just women’s lifestyle and diet that affects a child’s outcomes.
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It shows tots born to dads who drank alcohol around the time of conception were 44 per cent more likely to have heart problems.
Scientists think booze may damage sperm DNA, affecting foetal development.
The study also found if mums enjoyed a tipple before getting pregnant, the chances of their baby being born with congenital heart disease went up 16 per cent.
And the risk was more than half if in the lead up to conception dads binged – had five or more drinks in one session.
Experts said the findings suggest men should go teetotal six months before they attempt to get pregnant.
And women should abstain for a year in advance.
Lead researcher Dr Jiabi Qin, of Central South University in China, said: “We observed a gradually rising risk of congenital heart diseases as parental alcohol consumption increased.
‘HIGH RISK BEHAVIOUR’
“Binge drinking by would-be parents is a high risk and dangerous behaviour that not only may increase the chance of their baby being born with a heart defect, but also greatly damages their own health.”
The analysis, which looked 55 studies involved nearly 340,000 births, is published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology.
Heart defects affect one in 100 births – and are one of the leading causes of death among newborns.
Brit experts said wannabe parents do not need to ditch all boozing, but just drink sensibly.
UK guidelines recommend no more than 14 units of alcohol weekly – roughly six pints of beer, or six standard 175ml glasses of wine.
Commenting on the findings, Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology at Sheffield University, said: “It does suggest that would-be fathers should perhaps moderate their alcohol consumption.
“Quite how a father’s alcohol consumption can have this affect is a little unclear, but since we know it takes three months to produce a sperm I’d suggest this should at least be the length of time that men should consider being careful.
“I don’t think there is any evidence that they should give up alcohol completely, but certainly drinking within recommended guidelines would be a good idea until we know more.”
