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. 2009 Mar;13(2):274-85.
doi: 10.1007/s10995-008-0328-2. Epub 2008 Mar 4.

Alcohol consumption by women before and during pregnancy

Mary K Ethen  1 , Tunu A Ramadhani, Angela E Scheuerle, Mark A Canfield, Diego F Wyszynski, Charlotte M Druschel, Paul A Romitti; National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Affiliations

Alcohol consumption by women before and during pregnancy

Mary K Ethen et al. Matern Child Health J. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of alcohol consumption prior to and during various intervals of pregnancy in the U.S.

Methods: Alcohol-related, pregnancy-related, and demographic data were derived from computer-assisted telephone interviews with 4,088 randomly selected control mothers from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study who delivered live born infants without birth defects during 1997-2002. Alcohol consumption rates and crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated.

Results: 30.3% of all women reported drinking alcohol at some time during pregnancy, of which 8.3% reported binge drinking (4+ drinks on one occasion). Drinking rates declined considerably after the first month of pregnancy, during which 22.5% of women reported drinking, although 2.7% of women reported drinking during all trimesters of pregnancy and 7.9% reported drinking during the 3rd trimester. Pre-pregnancy binge drinking was a strong predictor of both drinking during pregnancy (adjusted OR = 8.52, 95% CI = 6.67-10.88) and binge drinking during pregnancy (adjusted OR = 36.02, 95% CI = 24.63-52.69). Other characteristics associated with both any drinking and binge drinking during pregnancy were non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity, cigarette smoking during pregnancy, and having an unintended pregnancy.

Conclusions: Our study revealed that drinking during pregnancy is fairly common, three times the levels reported in surveys that ask only about drinking during the month before the survey. Women who binge drink before pregnancy are at particular risk for drinking after becoming pregnant. Sexually active women of childbearing ages who drink alcohol should be advised to use reliable methods to prevent pregnancy, plan their pregnancies, and stop drinking before becoming pregnant.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Alcohol consumption before and during pregnancy, NBDPS, 1997–2002. This line graph shows the percent of women who consumed any alcohol (line with diamond markers) and the percent who binge drank (4+ drinks on at least one occasion; line with square markers) during eight intervals before and during pregnancy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of drinking days per month or trimester, among women who drank during that month or trimester, NBDPS, 1997–2002. This grouped bar chart shows how frequently women reported they drank alcohol during each of eight intervals before and during pregnancy. Percentages are calculated among the women who reported they drank, hence the sample size varies for each interval and is noted on the x-axis label
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Number of drinks per drinking day, among women who drank during that month or trimester, NBDPS, 1997–2002. This grouped bar chart shows the quantity of alcohol women reported they consumed during each of eight intervals before and during pregnancy. Percentages are calculated among the women who reported they drank, hence the sample size varies for each interval and is noted on the x-axis label
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