ORIGINAL RESEARCH - QUANTITATIVEWomen's frequency of alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy and at their pregnancy-booking visit 2001-2006: A cohort study

BackgroundWith evidence of offspring harms and concern for younger women's drinking behaviours, this study uses a hospital cohort to trend the use and changes in women's reported alcohol consumption.AimsTo examine (i) the trend of women's reported alcohol consumption over time, (ii) whether any increases in the frequency of alcohol consumption prior to a pregnancy are accompanied by increases in the frequency of alcohol consumption in pregnancy and (iii) the characteristics of women consuming alcohol at these times.MethodsMidwives collected routine data on 19,699 women between 2001 and 2006. Data on women's alcohol use prior to pregnancy and at their pregnancy-booking visit were analysed using a non-parametric test for trend and with bivariate and multivariate tests adjusting for possible confounders.FindingsThe proportion of women reporting at-least weekly alcohol use prior to pregnancy was 25.4% and 5.9% at their pregnancy-booking visit. A significant linear increase over time (p < 0.001) was found in the rate of women aged 20 years and older reporting at-least weekly alcohol use prior to pregnancy. Tertiary-educated women were more likely to consume alcohol at-least weekly prior to pregnancy. Women aged less than 20 years were less likely to report at-least weekly alcohol use at both time points. Having more children and Asian ethnicity were associated with a lower risk of at-least weekly alcohol use at these times.ConclusionThe majority of women reduce their alcohol consumption once they learn they are pregnant, with some evidence this trend may have increased in recent years.