Approaches to assessment of alcohol intake during pregnancy in Swedish maternity care—a national-based investigation into midwives’ alcohol-related education, knowledge and practice

Occurrence and relative risk of stroke in incident and prevalent contemporary rheumatoid arthritis

“…A recent meta-analysis of hypertension in RA failed to detect any difference in the prevalence of hypertension in RA and the general population,35 making it less likely that hypertension would be the primary cause of the vascular changes resulting in an increased risk of IS after 10 years of disease. Inflammation-induced accelerated atherosclerosis including increased arterial stiffness, a well-documented finding in incident cohorts of RA36 might, on the other hand, explain the somewhat slower evolvement of stroke (vs MI) risks observed in our cohort 17. In the absence of detailed clinical data pertaining to vessel function in our cohort, this will remain a speculation.…”

Brief alcohol intervention to prevent drinking during pregnancy: an overview of research findings

“…Pregnant women are asked about their present drinking habits, and the response is noted in the medical record. However, due to the acknowledged difficulty of obtaining reliable self-reports of concurrent alcohol intake from pregnant women, the AUDIT questionnaire is being used increasingly to ask about the woman's drinking in the year before the pregnancy [44 ]. The assumption that prepregnancy drinking patterns predict drinking during pregnancy is supported by numerous research findings [7].…”

“…Most antenatal care clinics in Sweden use either the three-item AUDIT-C or the full 10-item AUDIT. The questionnaire is seen both as a pedagogic tool that provides a structure for the conversation with the pregnant woman and as a means to assess alcohol consumption before pregnancy [44 ].…”

Midwives' knowledge, attitudes and practice about alcohol exposure and the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

“…Midwives have identified factors that may facilitate communication about alcohol consumption in pregnancy. These include increased knowledge about alcohol and pregnancy and FASD; knowledge about conversational techniques to use when addressing alcohol consumption in pregnancy and when alcohol-related symptoms are evident; increased time for interviewing women with risk behaviours and improved opportunities for their support, and access to written materials about alcohol and pregnancy to give to women; and the need for national guidelines and management decisions about addressing alcohol use in pregnancy [68]. …”