CORRELATES OF MULTIGRAVIDA WOMENS BINGE DRINKING DURING PREGNANCY - ALONGITUDINAL STUDY

Objective: To refine our understanding of prenatal psychosocial factor s associated with binge drinking during pregnancy and the contribution of binge drinking during pregnancy to the duration of newborn hospita lization. Design: Prospective cohort. Setting: A large urban medical c enter in Wisconsin. Participants: One hundred thirty-nine women (106 m ultigravida) who were invited to participate during a prenatal clinic visit early in their third trimester. Measures: Prenatal measures incl uded social support (Maternal Social Support Index), depression (Cente r for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), stress (Difficult Life Circumstances), substance use (Monitoring the Future Substance Use Que stionnaire and T-ACE Scale [a screen with questions about tolerance, a nnoyance, cutting down, and using alcohol as an eye-opener]), and mate rnal-fetal attachment (Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale). After deliver y, a mothers' and infants' medical record review form was used. Result s: Multigravida pregnant women (n=106) were older than primigravida pr egnant women (n=33) (25.8+/-0.6 vs 20.5+/-0.5 years; P=.001), with mor e children at home (2.3+/-0.2 vs 1.3+/-0.3; P=.01) and less social sup port (Maternal Social Support Index, 20.1+/-0.6 vs 22.9+/-1.0; P=.03). All of the binge-drinking women in this sample were in the unmarried multigravida subgroup (17/101 [17%]). Compared with multigravida pregn ant women who did not binge drink during pregnancy, binge-drinking pre gnant women were older (28.1+/-1.3 vs 25.1+/-0.6 years; P=.03) and mor e socially isolated (Maternal Social Support Index, 17.2+/-1.3 vs 20.7 +/-0.7; P=.04) and were more likely to smoke during the pregnancy (82% vs 39%; P=.001). Even after controlling for a number of other importa nt biologic and psychosocial factors (duration of pregnancy, maternal gravidity, racial heritage, education, social support at second trimes ter, and birth weight), by hierarchical multiple linear regression, bi nge drinking within the last 2 weeks before the late second-trimester interview continued to explain a significant amount of variance in dur ation of newborn hospitalization (total R(2)=.48, partial R(2)=.04; P= .01). Conclusions: This study suggests that binge drinking during preg nancy is related to longer newborn hospitalizations. Effective prenata l interventions to improve the outcome of pregnancies for women who ab use alcohol during pregnancy should use early screening and provide au gmentation of mothers' social support.