Preventing Alcohol Consumption during Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The aim of this study is to report on a brief alcohol intervention for preventing drinking during pregnancy. The Women’s Organizations Committee on Alcohol and Drug Issues (WOCAD) in Sweden developed an informational brochure about alcohol during pregnancy, intended to reach pregnant women before their first visit at a prenatal clinic. A randomized controlled trial was conducted between 2004 and 2005 to measure whether the brochure had any effect. A total of 564 pregnant women between 17 and 46 years of age are included in the study. Differences between the intervention and control groups were analyzed with cross-tabulations and chi-squared tests. A multiple logistic regression analysis was also conducted to determine predictors of abstention from alcohol at the first prenatal visit. Findings show that significantly more of the women who received the brochure abstained completely from alcohol then of those who did not receive it (92% vs. 82%, p = 0.005). It was 2.6 times more likely that those who received the brochure had abstained completely from alcohol since pregnancy recognition at their first prenatal visit compared with those who did not receive it (OR = 2.6, CI 1.3 - 5.1, p = 0.005). We conclude that the informational brochure developed by WOCAD can be used in prenatal care to get more women to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy.