There has been a “marked reduction” in alcohol consumption among pregnant women, according to new research.
However, health experts are concerned at the high levels of drinking, including binge-drinking, among Irish women in the year prior to being confirmed pregnant.
Researchers said the time of “greatest vulnerability” to alcohol for a foetus is the period before conception and the early stages of pregnancy.
They said health promotion should now focus on this issue, particularly given that up to half of all pregnancies are unplanned.
The research, ‘Alcohol Consumption in Pregnancy: Results from the general practice setting’, was conducted by a team of medical experts attached to the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.
The report said there had been little research on alcohol in pregnancy in primary care settings — such as in GP clinics — as almost all research to date had been carried out in secondary care, in maternity hospitals.
The research, published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, was conducted among 240 women attending antenatal visits in 15 teaching GP practices in the greater Dublin area. It found:
- 97% of women drank no more than once a week;
- 62% of these said they did not drink at all;
- 10% drank two to four times a month;
- 2.5% drank two to three times a week or more.
“There was a marked reduction in the prevalence of alcohol use in pregnancy compared to previous research,” said the report.
“Over 97% drink no more than once a week, including almost two thirds of women who abstain totally from alcohol in pregnancy.”
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 27/08/2013
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