Pregnancy, alcohol and tobacco: one in ten pregnant women smoke, 6% continue to drink “on special occasions”

Des comportements à risques persistent pendant la grossesse. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

Selon une enquête de Santé publique France, publiée à l’occasion de la journée mondiale de sensibilisation au syndrome d’alcoolisation fœtale, ce lundi 9 septembre, des femmes enceintes ont encore des comportements à risques pour le fœtus.

Based on the results of the Santé publique France barometer, an observatory of French behavior intended to guide public policies set up in 1992, a survey shows that women persist in risky behavior while pregnant.

According to the barometer, which is based on indicators collected in 2021, 13% of mothers of children under 5 years old “report having smoked during their entire pregnancy”.

And 6% of women continued to drink “on special occasions”.

93 % of expectant mothers “never drink”

“Tobacco and alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have serious consequences on the health of the mother and that of the unborn child”, nevertheless recalls Santé publique France.

While they are “difficult to measure” and “possibly largely underestimated due to the significant underdiagnosis of this disorder”, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders can cause disabilities and severe developmental delays in the child: facial dysmorphism, growth retardation, neurodevelopmental disorders leading to mental retardation and learning difficulties in particular.

Nicotine and other components of cigarettes pass through the placenta and are responsible for delayed development of the fetus. They also increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage and premature birth.

If we only consider the positive side of the survey, it appears that 93% of women “never drink” when they are pregnant, and while one in four women smokes when they find out they are pregnant, 45% of them stop immediately, and “51% say they have reduced the amount of tobacco smoked without stopping completely”.