Alcohol use before and during pregnancy and factors influencing change among Swedish women

Abstract

To investigate alcohol intake during pregnancy among women, to assess health cares providers' advice to the women and the relative importance of different factors on changes in the women's drinking. Questionnaire study. Linkoping, Sweden. A total number of 1,533 women registered at a maternity health care center in Linkoping during a one-year period, from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006. Mailed anonymous questionnaire with a response rate of 61%. Drinking behavior and information sources. During pregnancy, 94% (n=869) of the responding women abstained from alcohol, including 13% (n=117) who were already abstainers. Six percent (n=55) continued drinking during the pregnancy. Those who continued drinking during pregnancy were older, had more often given birth and drank more frequently before pregnancy than the women who abstained. Half of the respondents (n=428) believed that decreases in alcohol intake during pregnancy reported in previous studies could be due to inaccurate self-reporting. The main message from maternity health care providers was perceived to be complete abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy (85%; n=777), although 8% (n=76) claimed that they had not received any advice regarding this. Media attention concerning risks associated with drinking during pregnancy was seen as slightly more important to achieve reduced alcohol intake during pregnancy than advice from maternity health care providers. A majority of women in this study reported abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy.