Alcohol Drinking Pattern During Pregnancy and Risk of Infant Mortality

Alcohol Drinking Pattern During Pregnancy and Risk of Infant Mortality
Katrine Strandberg-Larsen, Morten Grønbæk, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Per Kragh Andersen, and Jørn Olsenb


Background: The safety of small amounts of alcohol drinking and
occasional binge-level drinking during pregnancy remains unsettled.
We examined the association of maternal average alcohol intake and
binge drinking (􏰀5 drinks per sitting) with infant mortality, both in
the neonatal and postneonatal period.
nancy are associated with an increased risk of infant mortality, both in
the neonatal and postneonatal period.

Methods: Participants were 79,216 mothers who were enrolled in
the Danish National Birth Cohort in 1996 –2002, gave birth to a
live-born singleton, and provided information while they were
pregnant on alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Information on
infant mortality and causes of death was obtained from national
registries and medical records.A

Results: During the first year of life, 279 children (0.35%) died, 204
during the neonatal period. Infant mortality was not associated with
alcohol drinking, even at a consumption level of either 4+ drinks
per week or 3+ occasions of binge drinking. Postneonatal mortality
was associated with an intake of 4+ drinks per week (hazard ratio
=3.56 [95% confidence interval + 1.15– 8.43]) and with 3+ binge
episodes (2.69 [1.27–5.69]). When restricting analyses to term
births, both infant mortality and postneonatal mortality were asso-
ciated with a weekly average intake of 4+ drinks or 3+ binge
episodes.

Conclusions: Among term infants, intake of at least 4 drinks of
alcohol per week or binging on 3 or more occasions during preg-
nancy are associated with an increased risk of infant mortality,
especially during the postneonatal period.

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