Alcohol use in pregnancy

NDARC Staff

Lucy Burns, Anthony Shakeshaft, Emma Black

Other Investigators

Jenny Powers (University of Newcastle), Deborah Loxton (University of Newcastle), Elizabeth Elliott (Sydney University), Adrian Dunlop (Hunter New England Area Health Service)

Aims

1. To provide a comprehensive account of the distribution of alcohol use and harms associated with pregnancy in the Australian context; triangulating data from the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection and the NSW Midwives Data Collection
2. To examine the effect of the Australian alcohol drinking guidelines on alcohol consumption among pregnant women before and after the 2001 guidelines were introduced, using the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health quantitative data (1996-2006)
3. To examine views and experiences of alcohol use in pregnancy, and utilisation of current health services, identifying the experiences of both pregnant women and health service providers
4. To develop a formal questionnaire, based on these findings, to identify the perceived needs of women at-risk of an alcohol-related pregnancy

Design and Method

Aim 1: Using these data we will plot a number of maternal characteristics of alcohol-related pregnancies including reasons for admission, Statistical Local Areas of residence and hospital codes to determine geographical indicators of risk. We will also plot neonatal outcomes including low birth weight, poor growth, prematurity and transfer rates to specialist care.

Aim 2: Analyses will assess the effect of the 2001 alcohol guidelines by comparing drinking patterns and their underlying factors among women who were pregnant in 1996, 2000, 2003 or 2006. We will plot these longitudinal alcohol patterns against time since pregnancy and change in alcohol guidelines to determine whether the change in alcohol guidelines has altered women’s drinking pattern in pregnancy. We will use longitudinal analyses to identify the relationships between underlying risk factors and drinking patterns during pregnancy.

Aim 3: While the quantitative analyses (Aims 1 and 2) will have determined risk factors for harmful and unsafe alcohol use during pregnancy, Aim 3 will elaborate on those findings by establishing what influences women’s decisions about drinking during pregnancy, and by exploring the perceptions of service providers about these decisions. To meet this aim a number of focus groups will be conducted with high risk women, women in the general community and health service providers.

Aim 4: This new questionnaire will form the basis of a pre-intervention measure, to be used in a community capacity building intervention, aimed at addressing the unmet needs of pregnant women with regard to alcohol harm.

Progress

Aims 1 and 3 are currently underway; Aim 2 paper has been completed and submitted for peer review, and Aim 4 will be addressed upon completion (or near-completion) of Aims 1-3.

Funding

NSW Health