• BJOG · Feb 2009

    The effect of maternal alcohol consumption on fetal growth and preterm birth.

    • C M O'Leary, N Nassar, J J Kurinczuk, and C Bower.
    • Division of Population Sciences, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia. colleeno@ichr.uwa.edu.au
    • BJOG. 2009 Feb 1;116(3):390-400.

    ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure and fetal growth and preterm birth and to estimate the effect of dose and timing of alcohol exposure in pregnancy.DesignA population-based cohort study linked to birth information on the Western Australian Midwives Notification System.SettingWestern Australia.PopulationA 10% random sample of births restricted to nonindigenous women who had delivered a singleton infant (n= 4719) in 1995-1997.MethodsThe impact of alcohol consumption in pregnancy on fetal growth (small-for-gestational-age [SGA] and large-for-gestational-age infants [LGA]) and preterm birth (<37 weeks of gestation) was assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis and adjusting for confounding factors.Main Outcome MeasuresOdds ratios and 95% CI, attributable risk, and population attributable risk were calculated.ResultsThe percentage of SGA infants and preterm birth increased with higher levels of prenatal alcohol exposure; however, the association between alcohol intake and SGA infants was attenuated after adjustment for maternal smoking. Low levels of prenatal alcohol were not associated with preterm birth; however, binge drinking resulted in a nonsignificant increase in odds. Preterm birth was associated with moderate and higher levels of prenatal alcohol consumption for the group of women who ceased drinking before the second trimester. This group of women was significantly more likely to deliver a preterm infant than women who abstained from alcohol (adjusted OR 1.73 [95% CI 1.01-3.14]).ConclusionsAlcohol intake at higher levels, particularly heavy and binge drinking patterns, is associated with increased risk of preterm birth even when drinking is ceased before the second trimester. This finding, however, is based on small numbers and needs further investigation. Dose and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure appears to affect preterm delivery and should be considered in future research and health education.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.