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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Alcoholism is associated with delayed childbearing in women, according to a study that compared women's and men's lifetime history of alcohol dependence and their age when they had their first child.

The researchers analyzed data from two groups of Australian twins born between 1893-1964 (3,634 female and 1,880 male twins) and between 1964-1971 (3,381 female and 2,748 male twins).

The results showed that alcoholic women in both groups had delayed onset of childbearing, but alcoholism had little or no effect on men.

The findings are to be published in the November print issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine alcohol's effects on reproductive onset across reproductive development," corresponding author Mary Waldron, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, said in a journal news release.

"Most previous research has examined risks to teens or adults but not both. Our findings highlight a risk associated with AD [alcohol dependence] in women that is not widely recognized -- a risk that has assumed increasing importance given the increased rates of alcohol misuse by women and particularly young women," Waldron said.

Alcohol dependence can cause reproductive dysfunctions for both teen and adult females.

"Reproductive dysfunctions include a range of menstrual disorders, sexual dysfunctions, and pregnancy complications that include spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. Teenagers who drink tend to have disruptions in their menstrual cycle as well as unplanned pregnancies," Waldron said.

The finding that alcohol dependence has more reproduction-related impact on women on men may be because women reach higher blood alcohol concentrations than men while consuming similar amounts of alcohol, the researchers suggested.

"Young women who drink alcohol may want to consider the longer-term consequences for later childbearing," Waldron warned. "If drinking continues or increases to levels of problem use, their ability and/or opportunity to have children may be impaired.

"For women who are already experiencing fertility problems or other reproductive difficulties, the study's findings should warn them not to use alcohol to cope with stress caused by the reproductive problems, because alcohol would likely make the reproductive problems worse, as well as carrying risks of possible alcohol abuse or dependence," added Sharon C. Wilsnack, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in the department of clinical neuroscience at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has more about women and alcohol.

TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Many new mothers in the United States struggle with chronic emotional and physical problems, often with little or no support from their husbands or partners, all the while trying to meet the needs of their newborns, and in some cases the pressure to return to work, a new report finds.

"Mothers of young children in the United States are in a rather untenable situation," said Carol Sakala, an author of the report and director of programs for Childbirth Connection, a national not-for-profit organization that works to improve the quality of maternity care.

"Mothers are so isolated in our society. There is not an appreciation for the extent to which this is a very challenging time for this large population," she said.

The report, called New Mothers Speak Out, National Survey Results Highlight Women's Postpartum Experiences, surveyed 903 new mothers, ages 18 to 45, who gave birth in 2005.

Among the findings: After six months, 43 percent of the women still felt stressed; 40 percent reported problems controlling their weight; 34 percent had trouble sleeping; 26 percent had no sexual desire; and 24 percent suffered from chronic backaches.

During the first two months after giving birth, 44 percent of the women said that their physical or emotional condition interfered with taking care of their baby.

What's more, many women didn't feel they got the support they needed from their spouse or partner, with 73 percent saying they provided more of the child care than their husband or partner.

Even the 49 percent of women who had full-time jobs said they provided most of the child care, with just 3 percent of husbands or partners providing most of the child care, according to the report.

Twenty percent of the women with a husband or partner said their mate provided little, if any, affectionate, emotional, enjoyment or practical support.

"We were surprised at how quickly the women were back to employment -- over 80 percent by 12 weeks postpartum," Sakala said. "They didn't get the maternity leave that they wanted. They felt they had to be back at work earlier than they wanted. They weren't able to achieve their breast-feeding goals.

"They are trying to do the right thing, but they are not getting the support they need in terms of time to recover and the financial support they need to be at home with their babies," Sakala added.

Just 40 percent of working mothers said they received paid maternity leave benefits. Among those receiving paid maternity leave, 50 percent said they received 100 percent of their pay. Among full-time workers, 23 percent got at least six weeks of full pay, and 38 percent received six weeks at half pay.

More than one-third of the working women were back on the job six weeks after giving birth, and 84 percent were back working after 12 weeks of maternity leave.

Almost half of the women -- 48 percent -- said they hadn't remained at home as long as they wished. The main reason they went back to work was that they couldn't afford more time off, the report found.

Most of the working women said the ideal amount of time off would be seven months. Only 1 percent of the women had fully paid leave for four months or more.

Once the women returned to work, many challenges still remained. Seventy-nine percent described being away from their baby as a challenge. Problems making child-care arrangements affected 50 percent of the new mothers; breast-feeding issues affected 37 percent; 36 percent struggled with issues of support from their partner or spouse; and 29 percent said they experienced lack of support in the workplace.

"There is a major awareness challenge. We aren't really aware of the situation that mothers are in," Sakala said. "We need to extend the supports we have offered to mothers. We need to build awareness among women that they are not alone. These are common issues, issues for which they can get help. They are entitled to help."

Dr. Ruta Nonacs is a staff psychiatrist with Massachusetts General Hospital's Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Clinical Research Program. She thinks the new survey is another piece of evidence that more attention needs to be paid to help new mothers.

Part of the problem, Nonacs said, has been changes in society that leave new mothers more isolated. "Most women don't exist within extended families and need other forms of support, because there is not an extended family that can pick up the extra responsibility," she said.

Longer maternity leaves and more flexible return-to-work policies would be one way of helping new mothers, Nonacs said. "That would be very helpful in reducing the level of stress," she said.

Also, new mothers expect more of themselves than they did in the past, Nonacs said. "With all the emphasis on 'appropriate parenting,' there is pressure on women to be 100 percent available, which is simply not possible. Women's expectations have increased dramatically," she said.

These heightened expectations add to the stress of new motherhood, Nonacs said. "Especially, when there is a disconnect between how one thinks a mother is supposed to behave and how grueling it actually is. That sets up people for disappointment and feelings of inadequacy. It does create stress," she said.

"Throw away your parenting books," Nonacs advised. "Get all the support you can muster -- if you pay for it or recruit various family members and friends. The first year in a child's life is very demanding. One needs a lot of support, and one also needs to take care of oneself," she said.

More information

To see the full report, visit the Childbirth Connection  .

TUESDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- The typical U.S. breast cancer screening strategy results in women being tested twice as often as a different approach use in Norway, but both are equally good at detecting disease, a new report says.

A study in the July 29 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that a traditional physician- and self-referral screening strategy held up well against the Norway approach, in which the government sends letters to all women in a specific age range inviting them to have a screening mammogram. The Norway program aims for women to be screened every two years, while the U.S.-based "opportunistic screening" strategies advise women to have annual screening mammograms.

In comparing the strategies as applied to 45,050 women in Vermont and 194,430 women in Norway from 1997 to 2003, the researchers found that the age-adjusted screening detection rate of cancers was similar between the two populations (2.77 per 1,000 woman-years in Vermont versus 2.57 in Norway).

However, more than three times as many women in Vermont were recalled for further examination than in Norway (9.8 percent versus 2.7 percent).

When all cancers detected during regular screening and between screening mammograms were combined, no substantial differences were found in the prognostic features of invasive cancers detected in the two populations.

Given the shorter interval between screenings, the report's authors hypothesized that "Vermont women and/or their health care providers may more readily pursue evaluation of symptoms and clinical findings than their Norwegian counterparts."

"Our results demonstrate that despite its longer screening interval, the organized population-based screening program in Norway achieved similar outcomes as the opportunistic screening in Vermont," the team wrote.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Cancer has more about breast cancer.

TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Women who give birth at top-rated hospitals have fewer complications for Caesarean section and fewer complications for vaginal birth, according to a HealthGrades study that compared the quality of maternity and cardiac/stroke care for women at U.S. hospitals in 17 states.

This is the fifth annual Women's Health in American Hospitals study released by HealthGrades, a health care ratings organization.

The study found that:

• Among women who had vaginal birth, there were almost 51 percent fewer complications at the best-performing hospitals than at poor-performing hospitals.
• Among women who had Caesarean sections, there were almost 76 percent fewer complications at the best-performing hospitals than at poor-performing hospitals.
• Overall, the risk-adjusted cardiovascular disease death rate for women decreased almost 15 percent from 2004 through 2006.
• The risk-adjusted cardiovascular disease death rate among women at the best-performing hospitals was almost 40 percent lower than at poor-performing hospitals and 22 percent lower than at average-performing hospitals.

"The impact of women's health on the U.S. health care system is tremendous, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all hospital admissions," lead author Dr. Samantha Collier, chief medical officer at HealthGrades, said in a prepared statement.

"It is imperative, based on the huge differences in the quality identified in our study, that women research their local hospital's clinical outcomes before choosing where to receive their care," she said.

The analysis of maternity care included more than 12.5 million hospital delivery and newborn records from 2004 through 2006 in 17 states. The analysis of cardiac/stroke care included more than one million hospitalizations over the same three-year period.

More information

The National Women's Health Information Center has more about women's health.