planning a pregnancy or who are already pregnant
is to avoid consuming alcohol and not to smoke.
Women are encouraged to eat a healthy balanced
diet, which incorporates a periconceptional daily
supplement of folic acid. All women are also
encouraged to begin or continue light to moderate
exercise. This study was designed to investigate
women’s reported health behaviours during
pregnancy. Sociodemographic characteristics of
women who were deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’
during pregnancy were identified, which established ‘at risk’ groups of women. Adverse
perinatal outcomes were identified and compared
for the ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ women during
pregnancy.
The study cohort was representative of women
attending a large maternity hospital between 2010
and 2011 (Mullally et al, 2011; Dunney et al, 2015).
Unfortunately, we found that few women overall
comply with all lifestyle recommendations for
pregnancy. This study reports that during the first
and third trimester of pregnancy, more than 80% of women were classified as having an unhealthy
pregnancy based on at least one unfavourable
factor.
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is a
worldwide issue with varying rates. This study
found that 16% of women smoked during the first
trimester of pregnancy; however, this decreased
to 12% as pregnancy continued. Previous Irish
studies have reported maternal smoking rates
during pregnancy between 20% to 29%, so this
indicates some improvement from previous reports
(Donnelly at al, 2008; Tarrant et al, 2011).
Advice on alcohol consumption during
pregnancy varies in different countries. However,
current advice to women in Ireland is that when
planning a pregnancy or during pregnancy, alcohol
should be avoided at all times. This study found
that 12% of women reported consuming alcohol