A critical review of public health interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and/or increasing knowledge among pregnant women

Abstract

Issues: It is well established that alcohol can cross the placenta to the foetus and can affect both physical and psychological development of the infant; however, many women continue to drink during pregnancy. It is therefore important to determine whether interventions can be successful in reducing alcohol consumption among pregnant women. Past reviews have investigated the effectiveness of clinical interventions in reducing alcohol consumption in pregnancy; however, the aim of the current review was to focus on the effectiveness of public health interventions. Approach: A critical literature review was conducted by searching several electronic databases using keywords such as; pregnancy, alcohol, interventions, and public health. Studies were included if they utilised a public health intervention, and included alcohol consumption or levels of knowledge as an outcome measure. Key Findings: Ten studies were included in the review. Interventions included multimedia and educational interventions. Improvements in knowledge were reported in six studies, whereas one study found contradictory results. Four studies used alcohol consumption rates as an outcome measure, and although a reduction in consumption was reported, the results were nonsignificant. Implications: The effectiveness of public health interventions that aim to increase awareness and reduce alcohol consumption among pregnant women cannot be assessed because of the paucity of studies. Conclusions: The results of this critical review emphasize a lack of evidence and highlight the need for further evaluation research on this topic.

Substance use during pregnancy

“…A recent randomized trial utilizing a telephone-based brief intervention suggests that this method may achieve similar results to the in-person intervention method of moderating prenatal drinking 78 . Some additional interventions to reduce prenatal drinking that have recently been described include screening via non-healthcare community workers 79 , counseling by midwives 80 , and multimedia and educational efforts aimed at improving awareness 81 .…”

Substance Use in the Perinatal Period

“…Brief interventions [90], particularly those that utilize motivational interviewing [91,92], can reduce perinatal alcohol use. Other recent interventions to reduce perinatal drinking have included counseling by midwives [93], screening via nonmedical community workers [94], and multimedia and educational efforts aimed to improve knowledge [95]. Additionally, recent work has highlighted the importance of social support in perinatal alcohol prevention, particularly for groups wherein social support has increased significance [96].…”

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy : Prevalence, predictors and prevention

“…A recent review (Crawford-Williams et al, 2015) examined the effects of public health interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption during pregnancy or increasing knowledge about the issue. The review included seven studies involving pregnant women and women of childbearing age.…”

“…Further, two of four studies involving women of fertile age reported decreased alcohol consumption after the interventions (Hanson et al, 2012;Kaskutas & Graves, 1994). The authors of the review concluded that, due to the limited number of studies on public health interventions to reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the evidence of their effectiveness is limited and more research is needed (Crawford-Williams et al, 2015).…”