Apples for Health- Binge drinking ups preterm birth risk

Binge drinking ups preterm birth risk

OXFORD, England, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A study of Australian women found an increased risk of preterm birth in women who drank heavily in early pregnancy.

The study, scheduled to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, involved a random sample of 4,719 women who gave birth in Western Australia from 1995 to 1997 who took part in a survey on how often they drank alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed at each occasion and the types of alcoholic beverage consumed.

The researchers from the Institute with the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford found that, on average, levels of alcohol intake decreased from the pre-pregnancy period to the second and third trimester. There was no difference in outcomes for women who drank low levels of alcohol during their pregnancy and those that abstained.

The incidence of preterm birth was highest amongst women who binged -- 9.5 percent -- or drank heavily even if the mother stopped drinking prior to the second trimester.

There was a 2.3-fold increase in odds of preterm birth in women who drank heavily in early pregnancy, but then stopped after taking into account maternal smoking, drug use, socioeconomic status and maternal health.

"The risk of preterm birth is highest for pregnant women who drink heavily or at binge levels, meaning drinking more than seven standard drinks per week, or more than five drinks on any one occasion," Institute researcher Colleen O'Leary said in a statement.