Consumption of Alcohol Beverages and Binge Alcohol Use Among Pregnant Women Aged 18–44 Years — United States, 2015–2017
Research Article
Summary
Consuming alcohol while pregnant can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. There is no known safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy.
Analysis of 2015–2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data found that 11.5% of pregnant women reported current alcohol use, and 3.9% reported binge alcohol use during the past 30 days. Women who were not married were more likely to consume alcohol and binge on alcohol during pregnancy than were married women.
Key findings of the analysis:
- About 1 in 9 pregnant women reported consuming alcohol in the past 30 days.
- About one third of pregnant women who reported consuming alcohol engaged in binge alcohol use.
- Pregnant women who reported binge alcohol use in the past 30 days reported an average of 4.5 binge-alcohol use episodes during that same time period.
Solutions
Efforts to expand implementation of community-level interventions and universal alcohol screening and brief counseling might decrease the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy.