Prevalence of alcohol use before and during pregnancy and predictors of drinking during pregnancy: a cross sectional study in Sweden

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a paucity of research on predictors for drinking during pregnancy among women in Sweden and reported prevalence rates differ considerably between studies conducted at different antenatal care centres. Since this knowledge is relevant for preventive work the aim of this study was to investigate these issues using a multicenter approach.MethodsThe study was conducted at 30 antenatal care centers across Sweden from November 2009 to December 2010. All women in pregnancy week 18 or more with a scheduled visit were asked to participate in the study. The questionnaire included questions on sociodemographic data, alcohol consumption prior to and during the pregnancy, tobacco use before and during pregnancy, and social support.ResultsQuestionnaires from 1594 women were included in the study. A majority, 84%, of the women reported alcohol consumption the year prior to pregnancy; about 14% were categorized as having hazardous consumption, here defined as a weekly consumption of > 9 standard drinks containing 12 grams of pure alcohol or drinking more than 4 standard drinks at the same occasion. Approximately 6% of the women consumed alcohol at least once after pregnancy recognition, of which 92% never drank more than 1 standard drink at a time. Of the women who were hazardous drinkers before pregnancy, 19% reduced their alcohol consumption when planning their pregnancy compared with 33% of the women with moderate alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy. Factors predicting alcohol consumption during pregnancy were older age, living in a large city, using tobacco during pregnancy, lower score for social support, stronger alcohol habit before pregnancy and higher score for social drinking motives.ConclusionsThe prevalence of drinking during pregnancy is relatively low in Sweden. However, 84% of the women report drinking in the year preceding pregnancy and most of these women continue to drink until pregnancy recognition, which means that they might have consumed alcohol in early pregnancy. Six factors were found to predict alcohol consumption during pregnancy. These factors should be addressed in the work to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies.

Consequences and Possible Predictors of Health-damaging Behaviors and Mental Health Problems in Pregnancy – A Review

“…Women who drank more than two alcoholic drinks per week or more than five alcoholic drinks per occasion (binge drinking) before they became pregnant, found it significantly more difficult to abstain entirely from drinking alcohol during pregnancy [55,60,65]. The same applied to pregnant women who had additionally smoked before or during pregnancy [55,[63][64][65][66]. Two of the studies found a correlation between continued maternal alcohol consumption and unplanned pregnancy [55,60]; it was not clear, however, whether nullipara or multipara found it more difficult to abstain from drinking alcohol [36].…”

“…Multipara were found to be a group at particular risk of continuing to smoke during pregnancy compared to women who were pregnant with their first child or women who had previously given birth to only one child [32, 35, 56-57, 65, 67]. In contrast to maternal nicotine consumption the consumption of low to moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy is a risk factor which was more likely to affect women with a higher socio-economic status and women who were older (aged > 30 years) [34,61,63,66]. Skagerstróm et al [36], who summarized the findings of 14 studies published between 2002 and 2009, did not come to a definitive conclusion with respect to the impact of the pregnant womanʼs social status on her prenatal consumption of alcohol.…”

Research utilisation and knowledge mobilisation in the commissioning and joint planning of public health interventions to reduce alcohol-related harms: a qualitative case design using a cocreation approach

“…131 A Swedish study found that older age, living in a major city with low social support and using tobacco during pregnancy, as well as pre-pregnancy drinking, were predictors of women's drinking in pregnancy. 132 It has been suggested that increased awareness of the dangers of drinking in pregnancy has resulted in changes in women's behaviour, 133 but this may simply be a case of women reporting less alcohol consumption.…”

Preventing Alcohol Consumption during Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…This relates to the concept of social capital, which suggests that social connectedness in itself has a positive effect on health status [34]. We also know that families and friends influence women's decision to drink or to abstain from alcohol [35] and that higher social support before pregnancy is associated with decreased risk of drinking during pregnancy [36]. Systematic reviews of interventions delivered during prenatal care suggest that there are examples of successful interventions, but their effectiveness varies overall [19] [33] [37].…”