Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and risk of stillbirth and preterm delivery

Abstract

We prospectively identified 96 women consuming at least 4 drinks/day during pregnancy by screening 9628 pregnant women. In these women with heavy prenatal alcohol use, there were three stillbirths and one preterm delivery; 98 matched nondrinking women had no stillbirths and two preterm births. Preterm rates did not differ significantly. The stillbirth rate was higher in the exposed group (p = 0.06). Additional investigation showed the stillbirth rate in the exposed population (3.1%) was significantly higher (p = 0.019) than the reported Chilean population rate (0.45%). Our data suggest that heavy alcohol consumption may increase the risk for stillbirth but not preterm delivery.

Keywords::

• alcohol
• pregnancy
• stillbirth
• preterm delivery
• binge drinking

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.