Drinking During Pregnancy Increases Preterm Risks

A study of 3,130 pregnant women found that maternal alcohol use during pregnancy can substantially increase the risk for extreme preterm delivery of newborns, a major contributor to perinatal sickness and death. Extreme prematurity is defined as less than 32 weeks of gestation.

Researchers at the C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development at Wayne State University examined the affect of exposure to alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes on preterm birth in the pregnant women. They used ultrasound to determine the specific dates of their pregnancies.

Of the newborns studied, 66 were extremely preterm, 462 were mildly preterm, and 2,602 were full- term deliveries. The researchers found that alcohol and cocaine were linked to an increased risk of preterm delivery, but not cigarettes. Alcohol accounted for most of the preterm deliveries.

Higher Risk for Women Over 30

"Although we found smoking to be associated with mild preterm, but not extreme preterm, delivery," said lead auther Robert J. Sokol, "Smoking remains a recognized risk for preterm delivery and should still be considered a problem from the fetal perspective."

Sokol also found the effects were even more pronounced for women 30 years and older.

"This is an important finding," he said in a news release, "because a woman could have been drinking during pregnancy when she was younger and had no effects, but could be more susceptible later."

"The bottom line is that there is a substantial risk of extreme preterm delivery that is associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. It would be best for women to just not drink during pregnancy," he said.

The study was published in the June 2007 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Related Information:

• Mothers' Drinking Shrinks Fetal Brain
  
• Pregnancy and Drinking
  
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

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