Published Reports On Pregnant Drinking Called Inaccurate

A national alcohol research group is concerned that the media's misinterpretation of a recent British research study could encourage pregnant women to be more at ease with temperate alcohol consumption.

Some media reports erroneously stated that the study by The University College London researchers revealed that light drinking by pregnant women could be beneficial to their babies. Other articles said light drinking during pregnancy would not affect the behavior or mental acuity of babies born to drinking mothers.

The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group, a subgroup of the Research Society on Alcoholism, says the conclusion of the study was not reported accurately. "Unfortunately, several media outlets misinterpreted this report to mean that drinking improved the children's outcome," the FASD Study Group says.

The published report looked at the drinking patterns of pregnant mothers of three-year-olds and assessed the behavior and cognitive skills of the children. The University College London researchers actually reported that the children born to women who drank lightly during pregnancy were not at increased risk compared with children of mothers who did not drink during pregnancy.

However, this result may be based on the higher socioeconomic status of the light drinking mothers and their children involved in this study. Higher socioeconomic status is well known to improve an infant's neurodevelopmental outcome. The study's authors, Dr. Yvonne Kelly at University College London and colleagues, suggested this explanation for their findings and the FASD Study Group agrees with that conclusion.

Many published reports show that even moderate to light drinking can cause birth defects.

"Generally, the adverse effects of light drinking during pregnancy are subtle and may go undetected in children," says Feng Zhou, president of the FASD Study Group and a professor of anatomy, cell biology and neurobiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "Other alcohol research studies of moderate drinking during pregnancy have shown an adverse impact on multiple aspects of development through adolescence and young adulthood even when other important environmental factors are taken into account."

Zhou says the news reports have been carried in various European and American publications and on news web sites.

"The media reports are alarming for a number of reasons but it is particularly disturbing at this time of year when holiday parties may make alcohol consumption more accessible and appealing to pregnant women who have read the erroneous reports," he says.

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Early Pregnancy Screening Cuts Down's Births by Half

Non-invasive screening of pregnant women with ultrasound early in pregnancy, combined with maternal blood analysis, has reduced the number of children born in Denmark with Down Syndrome by 50%, a scientist tells the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics.

Professor Karen Brøndum-Nielsen, of the Kennedy Institute, Glostrup, Denmark, will say that another benefit of the introduction of this procedure in her country was a drop in the number of invasive pre-natal diagnostic procedures from 11% to approximately 6% of pregnancies.

In September 2004, Professor Brøndum-Nielsen will tell the conference, the National Board of Health in Denmark recommended new guidelines for prenatal diagnosis. “Previously this was restricted to pregnant women over 35 years of age, but since the implementation of the new guidelines it has been available to any woman who wants it.”

The women were offered a measurement of nuchal translucency in the fetus by ultrasound. This test looks at thickness of the black space (fluid) in the neck area of the fetus. If there is more than the normal amount of fluid the risk of Down syndrome is increased. Likewise if there is a certain combination of serum markers in the maternal blood test, taken at the same time, there is the possibility of an increased risk of a chromosomal abnormality. The combined screening is carried out at 11 to 14 weeks of gestation.

Professor Brøndum-Nielsen and her team looked at the effects of the new guidelines in 2004, 2005, and 2006, in 3 counties in Denmark with a total population of 1.1 million inhabitants, or about one-fifth of the population of the country. They compared these findings with national figures obtained from the Central Cytogenetic Registry, which confirmed the reduction in invasive procedures and the number of children born with Down syndrome at national level.

“When we looked further at the history of children born with Down Syndrome, we found that their mothers had declined the offer of screening, or had taken it up too late in pregnancy”, she says. Another group had risk assessment that did not lead to invasive procedures
Women whose test results showed an elevated risk were offered an invasive procedure (chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis) to definitely confirm or exclude the diagnosis of Down syndrome by chromosome analysis.

“We found that making non-invasive screening available to all pregnant women meant that the numbers of invasive procedures decreased by 40% between 2004 and 2006”, says Professor Brøndum-Nielsen. “Although we have not yet studied the whole of the population, these numbers are significant enough to show that the new guidelines have been accepted by a great majority of Danish parents. However, there is a need for analysis of the psychosocial aspects, both as to the pre-test counselling and the women´s attitudes”, she says.

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Study Shows Smoking Common During Pregnancy

While pregnancy may be considered an effective motivator for smoking cessation, results of a new study by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health indicate that pregnant U.S. women commonly smoke, placing themselves and their unborn children at risk for health and developmental complications. The research also finds a significant association between cigarette use, nicotine dependence, and the presence of mental disorders among pregnant women.

The data show that almost 22 percent of these women smoked cigarettes and more than 10 percent were nicotine dependent. The results also indicate that approximately 30 percent of pregnant women who used cigarettes had a mental disorder, with personality disorders, major depressive disorder, and specific phobia among the most common psychological ailments.

Mental disorders were even more common among pregnant women with nicotine dependence, affecting more than 57 percent. In terms of specific disorders, the strongest associations with nicotine dependence were seen for prolonged depression, panic disorder, and major depressive disorder.

"Our research shows that prenatal smoking appears to be more common in pregnant women who are already vulnerable—those who are unmarried, have less than high school education, and have lower personal incomes," says Renee Goodwin, assistant professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School, and lead scientist. "They also are likely to have limited access to health care services, which may contribute to a lower likelihood of some women quitting smoking upon becoming pregnant."

The study included 1,516 pregnant women at least 18 years old who took part in the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative survey of more than 43,000 U.S. adults administered by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Mental disorders and nicotine dependence were diagnosed through use of the NIAAA Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV.

The findings were published in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The study was supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

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