Consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy

Introduction: The consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy is highly detrimental to the mothers’ health as well as to the health of the fetus. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy leads us to question the quality of health care. The objectives of this study are to quantify the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy by Portuguese and immigrant women in Portugal and to analyze the information conveyed during pregnancy surveillance visits. Methods: A cross-sectional study, partially analyzed as a control case, involved 753 immigrant mothers between the ages of 16 and 45 (29,30 ± 5,76) and 1654 Portuguese women aged 15-44 (29,99 ± 5, 42). Data collection resorted to self-administered questionnaires in 32 Portuguese maternity wards/ hospitals, from January 2010 to December 2011. Alcohol consumption was defined as the intake of any amount of alcohol during pregnancy. Prevalence was expressed in proportions and the association scale between odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals was determined. Results: Nine out of ten pregnant women did not ingest any alcohol. Among those who ingested it, the highest percentage occurred among immigrants (12.0% vs 6.6%) with statistical significance (OR 0.52, CI 95% 0.37-0.7, x2 = 19.617, p 0.001). As to the frequency of consumption, 57.8% of the Portuguese women and 71.1% of the immigrants (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.26-0.52) consumed a few times. Regarding the quality of information on alcohol consumption, 39.2% of the Portuguese considered it good and 34.9% of the immigrants, reasonable. Conclusion: Migrant women consume more alcoholic beverages during pregnancy than Portuguese ones. The prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy by immigrants and Portuguese suggests inadequate antenatal care