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Thursday, June 7, 2007

Brief Intervention for Alcohol Use by Pregnant Women

American Journal of Public Health February 2007, Vol 97, No. 2, 252-258

We examined the efficacy of brief intervention as a technique to help pregnant women achieve abstinence from alcohol. A second aim was to assess newborn outcomes as a function of brief intervention.

Women in the brief intervention condition were 5 times more likely to report abstinence after intervention compared with women in the assessment-only condition. Newborns whose mothers received brief intervention had higher birthweights and birth lengths, and fetal mortality rates were 3 times lower (0.9%) compared with newborns in the assessment-only (2.9%) condition.

The success of brief intervention conducted in a community setting by nonmedical professionals has significant implications for national public health policies.

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Reprint Request E-mail: moconnor@mednet.ucla.edu

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