Study Finds Drinking Prevalent Among Pregnant Women

We all know that drinking alcohol while pregnant is a big no-no.

Yet, despite widespread warnings about the potential risks, 15 percent of pregnant women in a new study said they consumed alcohol at least once during their pregnancies.

Although most of those women reported on an anonymous survey that they'd had less than one drink a week, some acknowledged drinking more than that on a regular basis: 7 percent said they'd had at least one binge of five or more drinks at once.

The study, conducted by a team from the University of Michigan Health System, is published in the January issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Researchers surveyed 1,131 pregnant women, ranging in age from 18 to 46 years, while they were waiting for prenatal appointments at eight obstetrics clinics in southeast Michigan. The women were between three and 41 weeks pregnant, and the racial makeup of the group was similar to that of the regional population.

The study found that women who smoke during pregnancy were more likely to drink alcohol, too, as were women in earlier stages of pregnancy. And only about one-half of the women recalled being asked about their drinking by their obstetrician.

The results suggest that doctors should assess all women's drinking behavior during prenatal visits, and counsel certain women more intensely about drinking alcohol during pregnancy, the researchers said.

"The good news is, most pregnant women aren't drinking, and those who do drink aren't drinking much," said lead resesarcher Heather Flynn, an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center. "But there's a subgroup that's at high risk, and we need to do more to understand and reach them."

Specific effects of alcohol exposure on developing fetuses has not been well-documented. Still, most medical authorities advise that pregnant women refrain from drinking alcohol, though a few suggest that an occasional drink may pose an acceptably low risk to the fetus.