One In 10 Pregnant Women In United States Reports Drinking Alcohol

To estimate the prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking, researchers used 2011-2013 BRFSS data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for women aged 18-44 years.

Beyond Balachova’s research, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of physician experts, also recommends alcohol screening and brief intervention in primary care settings for adults, including pregnant women.

“This is an important reminder that women should not drink any alcohol while pregnant”, Coleen Boyle, director of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in a statement.

Non-married pregnant women were 4.6 times more likely to binge drink than married pregnant women, the study found. This may be because women who binge drink during pregnancy may be addicted to alcohol.

Tatiana Balachova, an associate pediatrics professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and her fellow researchers evaluated different screening methods that physicians could use to better understand patients’ alcohol consumption, especially among pregnant women.

The study should be a call to action for pregnant women, who often receive “mixed messages” in the media about whether it is safe to drink during pregnancy, Tan said.

So, when you conceive, it is probably best to lock yourself in a padded box for nine months.

“We all sometimes feel that alcohol is something which most people drink, and alcohol is not illegal, and it’s part of culture and is acceptable”, Balachova said.

The announcement updated a 1981 decree by the Surgeon General’s office urging women to limit their alcohol intake.

The information examined data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is state-based, landline and cell phone survey of the usa population. The researchers who conducted it admitted the numbers could be lower than the reality, as many women don’t know they are pregnant for the first four weeks – or some may refuse to admit to a risky behaviour. In fact, one-third say they binge drink during pregnancy, according to a news release.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy puts infants at risk of developmental problems and brain damage, but one in 10 U.S. women say they drink while pregnant, USA health authorities said Thursday. The CDC defines binge drinking as consuming at least four drinks on a single occasion. “It’s just not worth the risk”, she said. It states that one drink isn’t likely to hurt a baby, but concludes that, “the safest bet is to avoid alcohol entirely”. So had 3.1 percent of the pregnant women in the survey. It included more than 8,000 who were pregnant at the time.