Moderate maternal drinking and outcome of pregnancy

Abstract

The adverse effect of light or moderate maternal drinking during pregnancy on the well being of the newborn has been investigated. The study group included 2145 live births in the obstetric units of 11 Italian cities between February 1989 and July 1990. A detailed life style questionnaire was administered to the mothers. Information on the newborn was collected from clinical records as well as from a clinical examination. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were suggestive of a decrease in mean birth weight associated with maternal drinking pregnancy, especially in women who also smoked during pregnancy. This effect was higher in male newborns. The occurrence of low birth weight (< 2500 g.) was more frequent in women drinking during pregnancy in both smokers and non-smokers (for this latter group an effect is suggested only for a daily consumption of more than 10 grams of absolute alcohol). Maternal alcohol drinking of more than 20 grams of absolute alcohol per day also increased the risk of preterm delivery (OR = 2.35; 95% CI: .98-5.59). Finally, an increase in the rate of early jaundice was found, also associated with maternal drinking (OR = 3.30; 95% CI: 1.03-10.54).

Pregnant Employee Protection Program in a Large Chemical Company

“…Only maternal drinking of 20 g of absolute alcohol per day increased the risk for preterm birth as Lazzaroni and colleagues reported. 10 Similar are the findings of Parazzini et al, 11 who showed an increased risk of preterm birth for mothers drinking three or more units of alcohol per week in pregnancy. Within this study sample, we could not find a correlation between alcohol consumption and preterm birth probably because of the low exposure, confirming the findings of Jaddoe et al 12 We believe the association between ethanol handling and preterm birth (which was not significant) is a coincidence because of the relatively small numbers (n ¼ 11), especially because solvents such as ethanol are generally handled under a hood.…”

Association of Moderate Alcohol Use and Binge Drinking During Pregnancy with Neonatal Health

“…There were no consistent effects on miscarriage (Armstrong et al, 1992;Kesmodel et al, 1987;Windham et al, 1998), stillbirth (Faden et al, 1997), IUGR (Lundsberg et al, 1997;McDonald et al, 1992;Whitehead and Lipscomb, 2003), low birthweight (Lazzaroni et al, 1993;Marbury et al, 1983;O'Callaghan et al, 2003;Ogston and Parry, 1992), preterm birth (Albertsen et al, 2004;Lazzaroni et al, 1993;McDonald et al, 1992), and malformations (Marbury et al, 1983;Mills and Graubard, 1987;Polygenis et al, 1998). For instance, a few studies found an increase in risk for low birthweight (Lundsberg et al, 1997;Virji, 1991) or IUGR (Windham et al, 1995) among children of mothers with moderate consumption, whereas others even have reported a possible protective effect .…”

Ethanol and Hormesis

“…According to Abel (1996), the increases in birth weight in epidemiological studies related to moderate drinking during pregnancy (Mills et al, 1984;Lumley et al, 1985;Kline et al, 1987;Little and Wendt, 1991;Godel et al, 1992;Larroque et al, 1993;Lazzaroni et al, 1993;Primatesta et al, 1993) have received little attention. In contrast to the human studies where the increase in body weight, even though slight-tomodest, is not uncommon, it has been rarely reported in animal studies.…”