Breaking Bad Habits During Spring Break: Why Alcohol And Pregnancy Continues To Be A Problem

By Sonia Alvarado, Senior Teratogen Information Specialist, MotherToBaby CA

Spring break 2014, which, for some, actually fell at the end of winter this year, is in full swing. Many students are back to school working diligently toward their degree. For some students, Spring break means a trip back home, a trip abroad for cultural education and for others, it s a time to let loose on a warm beach, usually with one !or many" alcoholic be#erages. $ake the case of a young woman who went on holiday to the %aribbean after a particularly stressful semester at college. &fter returning to school and missing her period, she called the Mother$o'aby ser#ice. She was frantic after recalling the amount of alcohol she had consumed during her se#en days in the sun. Social con#entions that used to keep women from drinking alcohol publicly !or e(cessi#ely" ha#e changed drastically in the last two decades. )ncreased disposable income also enabled women to purchase their own alcohol instead of relying on men. Marketing, media and other societal influences ha#e encouraged women to drink alcohol. $hese #arious factors ha#e contributed to a higher number of women drinking alcohol during college, binge drinking during college and risking alcoholism. &ccording to the %enters for *isease %ontrol !%*%", the issue of women and alcohol drinking is an under+recogni,ed problem. $he %*% reports that appro(imately 24- of women 1.+24 and 20- of women 2/ to 04 report binge drinking. 'inge drinking is classified as four or more drinks in one occasion. Studies suggest that college+age women may be binge+drinking in higher numbers than men. $his may be due in part to the fact that many women do not know that the recommendations for alcohol drinking for men are different + and higher + than for women. $hese issues are #ery concerning because most pregnancies are unplanned and binge drinking is a threat to the healthy de#elopment of a pregnancy. Fortunately, in the now worried 1Spring 'reaker2 we spoke with, our counselor was able to reassure her after identifying her e(posure as ha#ing occurred #ery early in pregnancy, prior to placental communication being established. 3owe#er, the amount of e(posure she had reported, four or more drinks daily, may ha#e been a risk had it occurred later in the first trimester.

$he 4.S. *epartment of 3ealth and 3uman Ser#ices recommendation for alcohol use by non+pregnant women is one drink per day !ma(imum of se#en per week". Men ha#e a recommendation of ma(imum two drinks per day. $he reason that women ha#e a lower dose recommendation is that women are more sensiti#e to the effects of alcohol. Specifically, the a#erage woman that takes two drinks will ha#e more alcohol in her system compared to a man drinking the same amount. $his is due to a si,e difference, genes, and maybe, hormones too. 5omen are generally smaller than men and that means ha#ing less blood. 3a#ing less blood means less water. & woman s body is made up of about /2- water and a man s about 61-. 5ater dilutes alcohol, both in a glass and in the body. More dilution means less impact. &lso, women ha#e more fat and unfortunately, alcohol in fat can t be metaboli,ed as 7uickly and it ends up concentrating in blood. $here is an important en,yme!s" called alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down alcohol. $hese en,ymes are primarily stored in the li#er and the stomach. $hese en,ymes are found in greater abundance in men than women. $he lower number of en,ymes means that more alcohol gets into the blood and stays there longer. 3ormones may also play an important role in breaking down alcohol. Studies suggest that the premenstrual phase slows down alcohol and results in higher blood alcohol le#els. $here is some e#idence that birth control pills that contain estrogen also slow the breakdown of alcohol. So what does this all mean8 Should Spring break mean all work and no play8 9ot necessarily. 3owe#er, part of feeling empowered and making responsible decisions is learning the facts about how alcohol can affect us all differently. *uring &pril s &lcohol &wareness Month, ) encourage e#eryone to take a moment to think about those differences : )t could make the difference in your future baby s life.

Sonia Alvarado is a bilingual (Spanish/English) Senior Teratogen Information Specialist with MotherToBab !alifornia" a non#profit that aims to educate women about medications and more during pregnanc and breastfeeding$ Along with answering women%s and health professionals% &uestions regarding e'posures during pregnanc /breastfeeding via MotherToBab %s toll#free hotline" email and private chat counseling service" she%s provided

educational tal(s regarding pregnanc health in communit clinics and high schools over the past decade$ MotherToBab is a service of the international )rgani*ation of Teratolog Information Specialists ()TIS)" a suggested resource b man agencies including the !enters for +isease !ontrol and ,revention (!+!)$ If ou have &uestions about alcohol" medications or other e'posures" call MotherToBab toll#-.EE at /00#010#0/23 or visit MotherToBab $org to browse a librar of fact sheets and find our nearest affiliate$

;eferences< http<==www.cdc.go#=#italsigns=bingedrinkingfemale=infographic.html http<==pubs.niaaa.nih.go#=publications=brochurewomen=women.htm >ones, M?,,@ >ones 'M. !1A.4". Bthanol metabolism in women taking oral contracepti#es. &lcohol %lin B(p ;es, >an+FebC.!1"<24+.