Study Finds That Australian Women With College Degrees Are More Likely to Drink Alcohol During Pregnancy Than Australian Women With Lower Levels of Education

Prior research has shown that about 60 percent of young adult women in the United States are regular consumers of alcohol. In Australia, 87 percent of young adult women drink.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with higher rates of miscarriage and premature labor. However, a new study conducted by researchers at several Australian universities finds that large numbers of women in that country continue to drink alcohol when pregnant. What is surprising is that women with a college degree are more likely than other Australian women to drink when they are pregnant.

The researchers surveyed more than 1,100 Australian women who were mothers but were not currently pregnant. They found that 34 percent of Australian mothers reported drinking alcohol during their last pregnancy and 32 percent said they would drink alcohol if they became pregnant again.

But when educational backgrounds were considered, 43 percent of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported drinking during their last pregnancy. But only 38 percent of women with only a high school education reported that they consumed alcohol during their last pregnancy.

Some 39 percent of college-educated Australian women stated that they would drink if they became pregnant again. Only 29 percent of Australian women with a high school education said they would drink alcohol if they became pregnant again.