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Health Indicator Report of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are considered to be the leading known preventable cause of mental retardation and other birth defects.[https://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/maternalchild/sidsfasd/fasd/ ^1^] There is no cure for FASDs.[https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/facts.html ^2^]

Data Source

Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology, Division of Family Health Services, New Jersey Department of Health, [http://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/maternalchild/outcomes/prams/]

Data Interpretation Issues

Alcohol use during pregnancy is self-reported and, thus, assumed to be under-reported to some degree.

Definition

Percentage of mothers that reported use of alcohol during their most recent pregnancy

Numerator

Number of mothers that reported use of alcohol during their most recent pregnancy

Denominator

Total number of mothers that responded to the survey (PRAMS)

Healthy People Objective: Increase abstinence from alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drugs among pregnant women: Alcohol

U.S. Target: 98.3 percent

Other Objectives

'''Revised Healthy New Jersey 2020 (HNJ2020) Objective MCH-4''': Decrease use of alcohol among pregnant women to *8.0% among all mothers *8.3% among White mothers *7.6% among Black mothers *8.7% among Hispanic mothers *4.1% among Asian mothers

How Are We Doing?

The Healthy New Jersey 2020 target was met by Hispanic and Black mothers, however, due to the extremely small sample size used in the PRAMS survey, the results are not statistically reliable.

What Is Being Done?

The New Jersey Department of Health has been committed to addressing perinatal addiction since 1980 and provides support to a system of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) risk reduction and perinatal addiction services. These risk reduction services include referral for treatment and education.

Available Services

NJDOH Reproductive and Perinatal Health Services: 609-292-5616
Page Content Updated On 11/05/2021, Published on 11/05/2021
The information provided above is from the Department of Health's NJSHAD web site (https://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Fri, 29 March 2024 6:19:24 from Department of Health, New Jersey State Health Assessment Data Web site: https://nj.gov/health/shad ".

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