Reduction of Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy with Benefits to the Newborn

Abstract

Among a group of 69 pregnant women who drank heavily, 25 reduced alcohol consumption before the third trimester. Infants born to these women showed less growth retardation than did infants born to 44 women who continued to drink heavily throughout the pregnancy. Analysis of other risk factors showed little effect on outcome when third trimester drinking patterns were held constant, Identification and counseling of heavy-drinking pregnent women should provide benefits for both the mother and her newborn.

Alcohol Use During Pregnancy: Prevalence and Impact

“…8 Research over the past 3 decades has increasingly shown the importance of such education from a public health perspective. 42 Specialized inpatient detoxification treatment is required for the pregnant woman who is physiologically dependent on alcohol (typically associated with drinking 5 days or more per week), who is actively drinking, who has ever had a withdrawal syndrome, or who is at risk for alcohol withdrawal (which can result in mortality of the mother or her fetus). Conservative management dictates that, when alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been detected, the patient should be assessed for referral to an outpatient detoxification program.…”

Maternal Substance Abuse and Infant Health: Policy Options across the Life Course

“…Like other substances, the impact of alcohol on fetal development is strongest when used early in pregnancy. Rosett, Weiner, Zuckerman, et al (1980) showed that reducing drinking by the midpoint of the pregnancy can modify some of the delay in growth and development.…”

Twelve‐year follow‐up of children exposed to alcohol in utero

“…It has become evident that only some alcoholic mothers give birth to children with full-blown FAS (Abel 1995). Prospective studies involving intervention during pregnancy have shown that the longer the exposure to prenatal alcohol the poorer the outcome in terms of cognitive function and growth (Rosett et al 1980(Rosett et al , 1983Aronson et al 1984;Larsson et al 1985). Aronson and Hagberg (1998) reported follow-up between the ages of 11 1 ⁄2 and 14 years of 24 children exposed prenatally to high levels of alcohol for various periods of time.…”

“…It was first recognised in 1973 (Jones et al) that heavy, continual prenatal exposure to alcohol is associated with a characteristic but not pathognomonic fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). This consists of (1) pre-and/or postnatal growth retardation, (2) CNS dysfunction, and (3) at least two of the following craniofacial features: (a) microcephaly, (b) short palpebral fissures, (c) hypoplastic philtrum, thin upper lip, and/or hypoplastic maxillary area (Rosett 1980). The existence of FAS has since become well established.…”

“…The existence of FAS has since become well established. Partial expression of the syndrome is often referred to as fetal alcohol effects (FAE) (Olegård et al 1979, Rosett 1980, Conry 1990, Nanson and Hiscock 1990, Streissguth et al 1991, although no generally accepted definition for this diagnosis exists. Follow-up data from several prospective studies have shown that prenatal exposure to alcohol is associated with a wide range of developmental disorders of varying severity and complexity: major organ malformation without other symptoms, growth retardation without other symptoms, and cognitive disorders without other symptoms (Stratton et al 1996).…”