Objective

In the United States, guidelines indicate all pregnant women should be screened for and counseled on alcohol use to prevent adverse perinatal outcomes due to alcohol consumption. The objective of this study was to describe sociodemographic factors associated with receipt of prenatal alcohol counseling and perinatal alcohol use among US women.

Methods

State health departments collected data for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Phase 7 during 2012-2015, and we restricted the sample to a complete case analysis (N = 135 111). The 3 dichotomous outcomes were preconception alcohol use (3 months before pregnancy), prenatal alcohol use (during last 3 months of pregnancy), and prenatal alcohol counseling. Predictor variables were age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, marital status, health insurance status, and previous live births. We estimated survey-weighted logistic regression models for each outcome.

Results

Half (56.0%) of pregnant women reported preconception alcohol use, 70.5% received prenatal alcohol counseling, and 7.7% reported prenatal alcohol use during the last 3 months of pregnancy. Black women were significantly less likely than White women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.46-0.52) and Hispanic women were significantly less likely than non-Hispanic women (OR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.58-0.66) to report preconception alcohol use. We found similar patterns for prenatal alcohol use among Black women. Black women were significantly more likely than White women (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.55-1.77) and Hispanic women were significantly more likely than non-Hispanic women (OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.40-1.61) to receive prenatal alcohol counseling. We found similar patterns for age, education, and health insurance status.

Conclusion

Disparities in alcohol counseling occurred despite the national recommendation for universal screening and counseling prenatally. Continued integration of universal screening for alcohol use during pregnancy is needed.