College-Educated Women More Likely to Drink While Pregnant Than Less Educated Peers

New research from the National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities, has determined that one of every 13 pregnant women continue to drink alcohol while pregnant. The researchers surveyed more than 14,000 pregnant women and 330,000 women who were not pregnant. More than 51 percent of women who were not pregnant reported that they had drunk alcohol in the past month. For pregnant women, the rate was just under 8 percent. Some 1.4 percent of pregnant women reported binge drinking

Surprisingly, college-educated women in the study were more likely than there less educated peers to drink alcohol when pregnant. About 10 percent of women with a college education reported drinking alcohol.

Despite a recent Danish study that says one drink per day for pregnant women may not be harmful, the authors of this report state that there is no safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy. They also write that drinking during pregnancy is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities.

The research was published in the July 20 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.