Background: Maternal behaviors during pregnancy, including alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and inadequate folic acid intake are recognized to adversely affect birth outcomes. This analysis describes the prevalence of these pregnancy risk factors in California in 1999. Methods: Data from the 1999 California Maternal Infant Health Assessment (MIHA) were analyzed. Three thousand four hundred eighty-three women with live births between February and May, 1999 were surveyed by mail, with telephone follow-up for non-respondents. Participants were asked about alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and vitamin supplementation before and during pregnancy. Preliminary, weighted, data for 2,400 respondents have been used in this analysis. Analysis of the full data set (n=3,483), weighted to reflect California’s births, will be completed when data become available (3/2000). Results: The majority of respondents did not smoke cigarettes (91.2%) or drink alcohol (81.3%) during their pregnancy. 92.8% did not drink alcohol during the last trimester. Before pregnancy, only 25.1% reported taking a vitamin/folic acid supplement regularly and 60.7% reported never taking supplements. Once the pregnancy was known, 75.7% reported taking a supplement daily. Conclusions: The majority of California’s delivery population abstains from smoking and drinking and takes a multivitamin/folic acid supplement during pregnancy. A minority take the recommended daily multivitamin/folic acid supplements before pregnancy. Many women continue to place themselves and their infants at-risk for adverse outcomes. Implications: New strategies to achieve adequate folic acid supplementation among women of child-bearing age are needed. Targeted approaches to facilitate smoking and drinking cessation before and during pregnancy are also needed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Recognize 3 modifiable risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes. 2. Describe the prevalence of alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and no folic acid supplementation during pregnancy among California women giving birth in 1999. 3. Describe further efforts needed to promote reduction of these risk behaviors in pregnancy
Keywords: Prenatal Care, Risk Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.