Factors influencing women's decisions to drink alcohol during pregnancy: Findings of a qualitative study with implications for health communication

Meurk, CS; Broom, A; Adams, J; Hall, W; Lucke, J

Factors influencing women's decisions to drink alcohol during pregnancy: Findings of a qualitative study with implications for health communication

Meurk, CS Broom, A

Adams, J

Hall, W Lucke, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2014, 14 (1)
Issue Date:: 2014-07-24

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Meurk, CS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Broom, A https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1258-1140	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Adams, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-5717	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hall, W	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lucke, J	en_US
dc.date.available	2014-07-15	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-07-24	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2014, 14 (1)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43628
dc.description.abstract	© 2014 Meurk et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Background: Despite Australian guidelines advising abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy, a relatively high number of Australian women continue to drink alcohol while pregnant. While some call for greater advocacy of the need for abstinence, others have expressed concern that abstinence messages may be harmful to pregnant women and their unborn babies due to the anxiety they could provoke. We present findings on women's deliberations over drinking alcohol during pregnancy, particularly their emotional dimensions, to inform debates about public health messages and practitioner-patient discussions regarding alcohol use during pregnancy.Methods: Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 40 women in their homes. Our sample comprised women aged 34-39, drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, living in the Greater Brisbane Area who were pregnant, or had recently given birth, in 2009. An inductive qualitative framework analysis approach was used to identify and interpret themes explaining why pregnant women choose to drink or not.Results: Women generally described drinking small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy as being a low risk activity and talked about the importance of alcohol to their social lives as a reason for continuing to drink or finding abstinence a burden; sensitisation to the judgements of others was not widespread. Women predominantly assessed the risk of their drinking in terms of the kinds of alcoholic beverages consumed rather than alcohol content. In reflecting on the advice they recalled receiving, women described their healthcare practitioners as being relaxed about the risks of alcohol consumption.Conclusions: The significance of alcohol to women's identity appeared to be an important reason for continued alcohol use during pregnancy among otherwise risk averse women. Anxiety about alcohol consumption during pregnancy was not widespread. However, obstetricians were an important mediator of this. Health messages that dispel the notion that wine is a " healthy" choice of alcoholic beverage, that provide women with strategies to help them avoid drinking, that advise the broader public not to pressure women to drink if they do not want to, and educate women about the effects of ethanol on maternal and fetal bodies, should be considered.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/APP1009451
dc.relation.ispartof	BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1186/1471-2393-14-246	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Risk Assessment	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Alcohol Drinking	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Health Behavior	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Social Identification	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Physician-Patient Relations	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Choice Behavior	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Pregnancy	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Qualitative Research	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Interviews as Topic	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Health Communication	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Social Participation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Alcohol Abstinence	en_US
dc.title	Factors influencing women's decisions to drink alcohol during pregnancy: Findings of a qualitative study with implications for health communication	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	14	en_US
utslib.for	1110 Nursing	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
dcterms.license	This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	14	en_US

Abstract:

© 2014 Meurk et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Background: Despite Australian guidelines advising abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy, a relatively high number of Australian women continue to drink alcohol while pregnant. While some call for greater advocacy of the need for abstinence, others have expressed concern that abstinence messages may be harmful to pregnant women and their unborn babies due to the anxiety they could provoke. We present findings on women's deliberations over drinking alcohol during pregnancy, particularly their emotional dimensions, to inform debates about public health messages and practitioner-patient discussions regarding alcohol use during pregnancy.Methods: Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 40 women in their homes. Our sample comprised women aged 34-39, drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, living in the Greater Brisbane Area who were pregnant, or had recently given birth, in 2009. An inductive qualitative framework analysis approach was used to identify and interpret themes explaining why pregnant women choose to drink or not.Results: Women generally described drinking small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy as being a low risk activity and talked about the importance of alcohol to their social lives as a reason for continuing to drink or finding abstinence a burden; sensitisation to the judgements of others was not widespread. Women predominantly assessed the risk of their drinking in terms of the kinds of alcoholic beverages consumed rather than alcohol content. In reflecting on the advice they recalled receiving, women described their healthcare practitioners as being relaxed about the risks of alcohol consumption.Conclusions: The significance of alcohol to women's identity appeared to be an important reason for continued alcohol use during pregnancy among otherwise risk averse women. Anxiety about alcohol consumption during pregnancy was not widespread. However, obstetricians were an important mediator of this. Health messages that dispel the notion that wine is a " healthy" choice of alcoholic beverage, that provide women with strategies to help them avoid drinking, that advise the broader public not to pressure women to drink if they do not want to, and educate women about the effects of ethanol on maternal and fetal bodies, should be considered.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43628