Authors:
O'Leary CM, Halliday J, Bartu A, D'Antoine H, Bower C
Authors notes:
BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2013;120(6):744-753
Keywords:
Aboriginal, alcohol and pregnancy, alcohol-use disorders, data linkage cohort, epidemiology, fetal alcohol syndrome
Abstract:
To examine alcohol-use disorders in pregnant women and the extent of under-reporting.
The proportion of Aboriginal mothers in Western Australia with an alcohol diagnosis (23.1%) is ten times greater than for non-Aboriginal mothers (2.3%).
There has been a six-fold increase in the percentage of non-Aboriginal births with a maternal alcohol diagnosis recorded during pregnancy and a 100-fold increase for Aboriginal births.
Around 70% of the mothers of children diagnosed with FAS did not have an alcohol diagnosis recorded during pregnancy and 18% of the mothers had no record of an alcohol diagnosis.
Maternal alcohol exposure during pregnancy is significantly under-ascertained.
Given the severe risks to the fetus from heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, assessment and recording of alcohol use should be routinely undertaken in maternity and other health settings.