Health Promotion and Support Grounded in Interconnected Influences on Alcohol Use in Pregnancy

Nancy Poole (), Lindsay Wolfson and Ella Huber
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Nancy Poole: Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, E209-4500 Oak Street Box 48, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada
Lindsay Wolfson: Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, E209-4500 Oak Street Box 48, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada
Ella Huber: Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, E209-4500 Oak Street Box 48, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: There are a range of factors that influence alcohol use in pregnancy and create risk of fetal harm. However, limited research has articulated the multilevel nature of these influences and their entanglement. The purpose of this narrative review is to analyze the types of factors that influence alcohol use and consider what factors need to be addressed in future health promotion and intervention efforts. Six databases were searched using EBSCOhost articles published between January and December 2023 on alcohol use in pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevention. English-language articles were screened for relevance and a subset of articles exploring the prevalence, influences, and risk-factors associated with pregnancy were included for analysis. Thirty-two ( n = 32) articles were included in the review and categorized into five key areas of influence on maternal alcohol use: (1) informational factors; (2) stress-related factors; (3) social determinant of health-related (SDoH) influences; (4) preconception- and prenatal-health-related factors; and (5) structural factors. Future efforts to reduce alcohol use in pregnancy should address these five categories of factors through non-judgmental, health-promoting, trauma-informed, harm-reduction-oriented, and culturally safe education, programming, and policy.

Keywords: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; pregnancy; women’s health; alcohol drinking; maternal health; social determinants of health; social stigma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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