Research Facts about Alcohol and Pregnancy

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47% of Australian women do not plan their pregnancy (Alcohol consumption during pregnancy in non-indigenous West Australian women. Colvin L, Payne J, Parsons D, Kurinczuk JJ, Bower C. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2007; 31(2):276-284.)
There is an association between binge drinking & unplanned pregnancy (Women's knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy: a national survey. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott J. BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 23: 10:510)
80% of Australian women report drinking alcohol in the first 3 months of pregnancy (Alcohol consumption during pregnancy in non-indigenous West Australian women. Colvin L, Payne J, Parsons D, Kurinczuk JJ, Bower C. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2007; 31(2):276-284.)
59% of Australian women drink alcohol in at least 1 trimester of pregnancy (Alcohol consumption during pregnancy in non-indigenous West Australian women. Colvin L, Payne J, Parsons D, Kurinczuk JJ, Bower C. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2007; 31(2):276-284.)
80% of Australians believe drinking while pregnant can be harmful to the developing fetus (AERF 2011 Annual Alcohol Poll Community Attitudes and Behaviours)
93% of Australian women agree alcohol can affect the unborn child (Women's knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy: a national survey. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott J. BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 23: 10:510)
16% of Australian women do not know that the effects of alcohol on the fetus are permanent (Women's knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy: a national survey. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott J. BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 23: 10:510)
34.1% of Australian women drank during their last pregnancy (Attitudes and behaviours predict women's intention to drink alcohol during pregnancy. The challenge for health professionals. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott EJ. BMC Public Health. 2011. 11:584)
31.6% of Australian women intended to drink if planning a pregnancy (Attitudes and behaviours predict women's intention to drink alcohol during pregnancy. The challenge for health professionals. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott EJ. BMC Public Health. 2011. 11:584)
23.7% of Australian women intend to drink if pregnant (Attitudes and behaviours predict women's intention to drink alcohol during pregnancy. The challenge for health professionals. Peadon E, Payne J, Henley N, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott E. BMC Public Health. 2011. 11:584)
For women aged between 18 and 24 years, 11% consumed alcohol at risky levels for the short term at least once a week in the previous 12 months (Australian Bureau of Statistics. Alcohol Consumption in Australia: A Snapshot 2004-05)
In the 2008 Victorian Population Health survey 37.2% of females consumed alcohol (weekly, monthly or yearly) at levels that were risky or high risk for short term harm (Victorian Population Health Survey 2008. Selected Findings: Health and Lifestyle Part 1)
In the 2008 Victorian Population Health survey 17.1% of females between 18 and 24 years were drinking alcohol at risky or high risk levels at least weekly (Victorian Population Health Survey 2008. Selected Findings: Health and Lifestyle Part 1)
Only 45% of health professionals routinely ask about alcohol use in pregnancy (Health professional's knowledge, practice and opinions about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and alcohol consumption in pregnancy. Payne J, Elliott E, D'Antoine H, O'Leary C, Mahony A, Haan E, et al. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2005; 29(6):558-564.)
Women expect health professionals to ask and advise them about alcohol and pregnancy (Impacts of alcohol use in pregnancy. The role of the General Practitioner. Peadon E, O'Leary C, Bower C, Elliott E. Aust Fam Physician. 2007; 36(11):935-939.)
Some health professionals acknowledge that they were not directly asking women about alcohol intake and hence were making an assumption that women knew to minimise alcohol consumption during pregnancy (Health professionals addressing alcohol use with pregnant women in Western Australia: barriers and strategies for communication.France K, Henley N, Payne J, D'Antoine H, Bartu A, O'Leary C, Elliott E, Bower C. Subst Use Misuse 2010; 45: 1474-1490)