Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies
Enhancing Clinical Practices to Prevent Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies
In 2004, 11.2% of pregnant women aged 15 to 44 reported alcohol use and
4.5% reported binge drinking. Among nonpregnant women of childbearing
age, 52.8% reported alcohol use and 23.3% reported binge drinking. Half
of all pregnancies are unplanned, and many women will not know they are
pregnant during the early weeks of gestation and may continue drinking.
Identifying women who are at high risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy
and intervening with them before conception (or at least as early as
possible thereafter) is an essential strategy for preventing
alcohol-exposed pregnancies.
Funded Project:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists—Washington,
D.C.
To address the prevention of alcohol-exposed pregnancies, the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), in collaboration with
CDC’s Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Team, has developed a tool kit,
“Drinking and Reproductive Health: A Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Prevention Tool Kit” for women’s health care providers. The primary
component in the tool kit is a CD-ROM that aims to teach women’s health
care providers how to properly screen and advise all of their patients
of reproductive age about risky drinking and encourage the use of
effective contraception among patients who continue to engage in risky
drinking. It also addresses drinking during pregnancy. With information
on screening, education, and counseling, this publication will help
women’s health care clinicians prevent FASDs when they encounter risky
drinking, regardless of pregnancy status. This tool kit contains a brief
guide, a laminated screening instrument for providers, resource
information, and patient handouts that can be downloaded and printed.
Continuing medical education credits are also available. The tool kit is
available to download or to order from the
ACOG website.
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