ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION BY PREGNANT-WOMEN IN THE UNITED-STATES DURING 1988-1995

Objective: To examine trends in alcohol use among pregnant women in th e United States and to characterize pregnant women who use alcohol, wi th an emphasis on frequent use (at least five drinks per occasion or a t least seven drinks per week). Methods: We used the Behavioral Risk F actor Surveillance System data from 1988 through 1995 to obtain the pe rcentage of pregnant women who used alcohol. We used multiple logistic models to identify subgroups of pregnant women who are at increased r isk for alcohol use. Results: Overall, 14.6% (869 of 5983) of pregnant women consumed alcohol and 2.1% (133 of 5983) consumed alcohol freque ntly. Among pregnant women, alcohol use decreased from 22.5% (95% conf idence interval [CI] 20.8, 23.9) in 1988 to 9.5% (95% CI 7.9, 11.8) in 1992 and then increased to 15.3% (95% CI 13.1, 17.2) by 1995. Among p regnant women, frequent alcohol use decreased from 3.9% (95% CI 2.4, 5 .2) in 1988 to 0.9% (95% CI 0.4, 1.6) in 1991 and then increased to 3. 5% (95% CI 2.0, 5.1) by 1995. Pregnant women who were at high risk for alcohol use were college educated, unmarried, employed, or students, had annual household incomes of more than $50,000, or were smokers. Pr egnant women who were at high risk for frequent alcohol use were more likely to be unmarried, or smokers. Conclusion: The increasing prevale nce of alcohol use among pregnant women calls for increased ascertainm ent of alcohol use among preconceptional and pregnant women. Brief int erventions by clinicians, increased referral to alcohol treatment prog rams, and increased use of contraception by women of reproductive age who are problem drinkers should be considered as means of preventing a lcohol-exposed pregnancies.