Avoid Alcohol in Pregnancy

Pattern of Alcohol Use Since 1991 Remains Unchanged Among Pregnant Women

From Reuters Health Information

May 21 - The use of alcohol and the prevalence of binge drinking among pregnant women and women of childbearing age changed little between 1991 and 2005, according to investigators at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, and low birth weight are among the poor outcomes associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy, Dr. C. H Denny and co-authors note in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for May 22.

To examine trends in alcohol use among women of childbearing age, the researchers analyzed data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys. Included were 533,506 women 18 to 44 years of age surveyed during 1991 to 2005; of these, 22,027 (4.1%) were pregnant at the time of the interview.

"The prevalence of any alcohol use and binge drinking...did not change substantially over time," the authors report. Any alcohol use was defined as having at least one drink in the past 30 days, and binge drinking as having 5 or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past 30 days.

Among pregnant women, the average annual percentage of any alcohol use was 12.2% (range: 10.2%-16.2%), while the average annual percentage for binge drinking was 1.9% (range: 0.7%-2.9%).

Corresponding values among nonpregnant women were 53.7% (range: 51.6%-56.3%) and 12.1% (range: 10.8%-13.7%).

Dr. Denny's team recommends: "Health-care providers should ask women of childbearing age about alcohol use routinely, inform them of the risks from alcohol while pregnant, and advise them not to drink alcohol while pregnant or if they might become pregnant."

The researchers identified risk factors for problem drinking among 13,820 pregnant women surveyed during 2001 to 2005. For any alcohol use, these included older age (age 34-44 vs 18-24, adjusted odds ratio = 2.3), having a college degree (AOR = 1.9), being employed (AOR = 1.5), and being unmarried (AOR = 2.2).

Employment and single status were also associated with binge drinking among pregnant women (AORs 1.8 and 4.4, respectively).

As to why these factors are associated with drinking in pregnancy, authors of an editorial note suggest that "1) older women might be more likely to be alcohol dependent and have more difficulty abstaining from alcohol while pregnant; 2) more educated women and employed women might have more discretionary money for the purchase of alcohol; and 3) unmarried women might attend more social occasions where alcohol is served."

Mor Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ 2009;58:529-532.