Examining Alcohol Screening Rates During Pregnancy and Documentation of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in a Public Health District in Australia

ABSTRACT

Aim

This study aimed to examine alcohol-screening rates during pregnancy and documentation of prenatal alcohol exposure in a public health district in Australia.

Design

A descriptive study using a retrospective medical record audit.

Methods

Alcohol screening data of 45,048 pregnancies recorded by four public antenatal clinics between 2010 and 2021 were obtained. A manual data extraction was conducted on 53 pregnancies of the women who attended the substance use in pregnancy and parenting service for their alcohol concerns during the same time period. From early 2017, a repeat alcohol screening was required at 27–29 and 35–37 weeks gestation and was examined for 30 of the 53 pregnancies.

Results

Overall, 99.3% of the pregnancies were screened for alcohol consumption at antenatal care booking and the screening rate remained above 99.0% over the years. Screening results showed that 1.3% were at high risk, 1.9% at medium risk and 4.2% at low risk. Of the 53 pregnancies examined, 90.6% were screened at antenatal care booking. Of the 30 pregnancies requiring repeat screening, screening rates were 50.0% at 27–29 weeks and 43.3% at 35–37 weeks. Prenatal alcohol exposure was only documented in 35.8% of the postnatal care plan and 20.8% of the neonatal discharge summary.

Conclusion

Almost all pregnancies were screened at the antenatal care booking; however, the number of alcohol-exposed pregnancies might be underestimated due to current alcohol use being screened. Completion of repeat alcohol screenings and documentation of prenatal alcohol exposure were suboptimal.

Patient or Public Contribution

Not applicable.