Which Aussie women are mostly likely to drink while pregnant?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-06-02 03:00

Australia; NSW; SA; NT

CC-0

A survey of 1,179 pregnant women from NSW found most (79.3 per cent) drank alcohol before they knew they were pregnant, but the majority (82 per cent) quit when they realised they were expecting. Half of those who said they continued to drink after realising they were pregnant only drank on special occasions. Most women (63.6 per cent) were aware of the national guidelines, 78.1 per cent knew the recommendation that consuming no alcohol in pregnancy is safest, 4.6 per cent thought some alcohol was safe, and 17.3 per cent were unsure. Those most likely to continue to drink during pregnancy were older women, and those who had been the heaviest drinkers before pregnancy. The scientists say more research is required to understand why some women disagree with the national guideline to avoid alcohol altogether during pregnancy.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research Wiley-Blackwell, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Drug & Alcohol Review

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Sydney, Menzies School of Health Research, The University of Adelaide

Funder: This study was funded by a NHMRC Partnership Project grant (APP1113032), and in accordance with grant funding arrangements, additional funds were provided by Hunter New England Local Health District, the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education and NSW Health Office of Preventive Health. TWT was funded by a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Grant (APP1110341), MK received salary support from a NHMRC Translating Research into Practice Research Fellowship (APP1150476), EJE was supported by a NHMRC Medical Research Futures Fund Practitioner Fellowship (APP1135959).

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.