Short Counseling Session Effective for Helping Pregnant Women Reduce Alcohol Consumption, Study Says

Undergoing one short counseling session with a doctor or nurse to discuss alcohol use during pregnancy can be effective for helping pregnant women reduce their prenatal alcohol consumption, according to a study published in the May issue of the journal... Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. Grace Chang, associate physician in the Department of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues surveyed 304 pregnant women about their pre-pregnancy alcohol consumption habits using the T-ACE questionnaire. Although none of the women studied was alcoholic, most were unaware that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can result in birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome, a collection of birth defects and developmental difficulties, including delayed growth, abnormal facial features and learning disabilities. Half of the 304 women were assigned to receive a single structured counseling session with a nurse or doctor about how to reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The women's partners often were included in the counseling sessions. The other half of the women did not receive a targeted counseling visit about alcohol use and were used as a comparison group. During the counseling sessions, women were told that abstaining entirely from drinking alcohol during pregnancy is the "best choice," and the health care workers discussed ways to help the women avoid the temptation to drink alcohol while pregnant, according to Reuters Health.

Results
The researchers found that the women who underwent counseling reduced their drinking after the session, particularly if the woman's partner attended the session. At the beginning of the study, fewer than 20% of the women participating had begun to abstain from alcohol entirely, but women who had undergone a targeted counseling session cut down on drinking after the session more than women in the comparison group, and women who consumed the most alcohol before the session made the biggest reduction in the amount that they consumed. Women in the comparison group also reduced their alcohol consumption, which led the researchers to conclude that the act of taking the screening exam led them to cut back on drinking during pregnancy. The researchers concluded that a short intervention session, especially one that includes a woman's partner, can help reduce alcohol consumption for the heaviest drinkers during pregnancy, according to the Reuters Health (Norton, Reuters Health, 5/17).


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