Young Mothers May Be More Likely to Indulge in Risky Drinking, Says Study

A new study, published in Journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggests that drinking too much during or even after your pregnancy can harm your health. According to researchers, people tend to adjust their behavior throughout their life-span in order to adopt new roles such as that of a spouse or a parent. 

The transition to parenthood appears to be particularly relevant for women and therefore this new study focuses on maternal alcohol use at the age of transition to motherhood as a predictor of trajectories of risky drinking during a 17-year span. 

For the study, the team recruited, 456 pregnant women, between the age of 13 and 42 years, at an urban prenatal clinic. The women (comprising of 64 percent African-American, 36 percent White) were interviewed about the use of alcohol during pregnancy, at the time of delivery, and again after six, 10, 14, and 16 years of having a baby.

The results of the interview revealed that at least 66 percent of the women had low-risk trajectories of alcohol use during the 17-year span.However, the maternal age at first birth predicted one high-risk group: younger mothers were more likely to engage in risky drinking early in pregnancy, which continued for six to 14 years after delivering the baby. 

Keeping these findings in mind, the authors of the study hope that these results can help health experts target mothers who are likely to exceed national guidelines calling for abstinence during pregnancy, and make sure that they have no more than seven drinks per week during postpartum.