Assessment of Prevalence and Associated Factors of Alcohol Use during Pregnancy among the dwellers of Bahir-Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014

Background: Alcohol is the most commonly used teratogen substance which is used during pregnancy with detrimental effects on the fetus and the mother. Objective: to assess prevalence and associated factors of alcohol use during pregnancy among the dwellers of Bahir-Dar, Northwest Ethiopia Method: Community based cross sectional study was conducted among 810 pregnant women in Bahar-Dar City from March to June 2014. Information on socio-demographic characteristics reproductive health and alcohol use were collected using pre prepared structured checklist and analyzed using SPSS version 20.00. Besides association between dependent and in dependent variables was analyzed and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Most (40.6%) of the respondents were found between the age of 25-29 years old and 48.3% of them were in the third trimester of pregnancy. This study revealed 34% of respondents consumed alcohol during pregnancy at least once per week.”Tella”, beer, and wine were the commonest kinds of alcohol beverages consumed by the pregnant mothers. In this study, being married (AOR = 3.09; 95% CI: 1.79, 5.33), having alcohol consuming partner (AOR=1.71; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.67) and (AOR=3.84; 95% CI: 2.34, 6.30), being unemployed (AOR=3.11; 95% CI: 1.73, 5.60), and unplanned pregnancy AOR = 3.12; 95% CI: (1.85, 5.28) were found significantly associated with alcohol consumption. Conclusion: This study indicated that alcohol consumption during pregnancy is still high. Hence, responsible bodies working on maternal and child health shall endeavor while planning interventions to mitigate or eliminate the above listed factors.