Women's views and experiences of occasional alcohol consumption during pregnancy: A systematic review of qualitative studies and their recommendations

Hammer, Raphaël; Rapp, Elise

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2022.103357

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…This uncertainty about the residual risk described by women reflects the lack of sound scientific evidence regarding the topic of low alcohol consumption during pregnancy [ 10 ]. Women were usually unsure about the extent of the risk, even while breastfeeding, and lacked expert advice from midwives and doctors [ 24 , 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As alcohol consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding is associated with taboos and fear of stigmatisation, a conversational approach based on a trusting relationship seems promising to increase women’s readiness to talk about their habits [ 30 ]. Furthermore, understanding the individual perspective of women and their social context is necessary for the design and successful implementation of women-centred health interventions [ 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Pehlke-Milde

Radu

Gouilhers

et al. 2022

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding is associated with a risk for the child’s healthy development. Nevertheless, about 16 to 25% of all women in the European region, including Switzerland, consume alcohol during pregnancy and probably even more during breastfeeding. Little is known about how women perceive this risk and how risk perception changes during the transition to motherhood. The present study aims to explore the subjective transition from the woman’s perspective, focusing on perceptions of alcohol as a risk, changes in alcohol consumption in daily life and experienced support from health professionals in this period. Methods The longitudinal qualitative, semi-structured interview study was jointly designed and conducted by health sociologists and midwifery researchers. Using the theoretical framework of sociocultural risk and life course transition, we interviewed 46 women from the French and German speaking part of Switzerland during pregnancy and until six months after birth. Results In our study, we found that pregnant and breastfeeding women perceive alcohol consumption as a risk to the health of the child. Abstinence is sought especially during pregnancy, but this does not preclude occasional and low-level consumption according to some women. Alcohol consumption and risk perception change during the transition to motherhood. We identified five stages that characterise this transition in terms of alcohol consumption and risk perception. From the women’s perspective, there was a lack of counselling from health professionals, and the women expressed a desire for respectful and more individualised counselling. Conclusion Many women express a need for guidance and counselling by health care professionals at some stages of the transition to motherhood. The stages identified can be used as pointers to address the subject of alcohol consumption in professional practice. The stage around conception and early pregnancy should be taken more into account, as women experience themselves as particularly vulnerable during this time. Low-threshold counselling services should be therefore offered to women before or in the stage around conception and be continued until the end of the breastfeeding period.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Pehlke-Milde

Radu

Gouilhers

et al. 2022

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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“…Indeed, women are often confused by the lack of consistent information but are also aware of the inconclusive evidence regarding the effects of low or moderate alcohol consumption. Faced with these uncertainties, some women opt for abstinence, reflecting the precautionary principle, whereas othersespecially during pregnancyadopt more flexible attitudes towards the acceptability of occasional alcohol consumption (Hammer & Rapp, 2022;Martinelli et al, 2021;Meurk et al, 2014;Popova et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Hammer

Gouilhers

Radu

et al. 2022

SSM - Qualitative Research in Health

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“…Most qualitative approaches in addiction and substance use research and health services research use interviews or focus-groups, especially in the German research context (Ullrich et al, 2022) This is also reflected in the two reviews that included qualitative studies using telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews or focus-groups (Hammer & Rapp, 2022;Popova et al, 2022). Only three studies by Toutain (2010Toutain ( , 2013Toutain ( ,2017 from France used internet forums or chat groups as a data source.…”

Section: Strengths and Challenges Of Both Data Collection Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Little is known about alcohol consumption during pregnancy and how it is related to perceptions of motherhood in Germany. In very recent literature reviews which centred on alcohol consumption during pregnancy ( Hammer & Rapp, 2022 ) and self-reported reasons for alcohol consumption during pregnancy ( Popova et al, 2022 ), no studies from Germany were found. Apart from the study by our research group, we are also not aware of any studies (neither qualitative nor quantitative) from Germany.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Researching Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy. Opportunities and Challenges With Two Methods of Data Acquisition

et al. 2022

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Qualitative research methods, primarily interviews, have become more common in the field of addiction research. Other data sources were often neglected, although sources such as social media can offer insights into the realities of people, since social media also plays a relevant role in today's living environments. This article examines the use of online forums as an underutilized data source in contrast to telephone interviews, to identify methodological opportunities and challenges. We analyzed nine discussion threads and seven interviews about ‘alcohol consumption during pregnancy’. Discursive comparison of the results was performed with a focus on sampling issues, comparability and risks for participants and researchers. Key issues were present in both data sources. People with different opinions were openly hostile in forums, while tolerance was more often expressed in interviews. The interviews showed a rather mild communication style, which could be attributed to social desirability. In the forum discussions, the participants often expressed themselves very directly. To comprehensively grasp the subject matter of the research, it is important to recognize the types of communication promoted by different data sources. These results have implications for research about female substance use. Knowledge of the issues will bestow a valuable contribution to researchers working in the field of substance use to help develop appropriate research approaches, as they engage in research into this highly stigmatized and controversial area.

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Women's views and experiences of occasional alcohol consumption during pregnancy: A systematic review of qualitative studies and their recommendations

Cited by 12 publications

References 73 publications

Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Researching Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy. Opportunities and Challenges With Two Methods of Data Acquisition

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