Results
The characteristics of the cohort are presented in
Table 1. The study cohort is mainly comparable
to the general hospital population as found in a
previous study on alcohol consumption during
pregnancy (Mullally et al, 2011; Dunney et al,
2015). Exceptions were a higher proportion of
non-Irish participants and a lower proportion
of private patients. This reflects higher rates of
recruitment in the public clinics. The loss of
participants at follow-up was representative for
each category.
The characteristics of the study cohort in
relation to lifestyle behaviours during the first
and third trimester of pregnancy are presented in
Table 2. During the first trimester of pregnancy,
31.8% (n=288) of participants reported having
an unplanned pregnancy. Only 28.1% (n=255) of
women were taking the recommended amount
of folic acid during that period, however a further
67.3% (n=610) of women reported taking some
folic acid. During pregnancy, 44.1% (n=400)
of women were considered overweight with a
BMI ≥25 kg/m2
. Despite the high proportion of
women who were overweight, 85.7% (n=777) of
women felt they had a healthy diet during the
first trimester of pregnancy, with 65.7% (n=596)
eating the recommended five portions of fruit
and vegetables per day. During the third trimester,women became even more conscious of having a
healthy diet, with 91.7% (n=830) of participants
eating healthily. A high proportion of women
did not exercise during pregnancy. However, the
majority of women who did exercise did so more
than three times a week: 35.7% (n=324) during
the first trimester and 46.0% (n=417) during
the third trimester. During the first trimester,
12.1% (n=110) of women consumed alcohol, and
this increased to 29.2% (n=265) during the third
trimester. Five women stopped smoking as their
pregnancy continued to the third trimester.
When the study participants were classified
as engaging in healthy or unhealthy lifestyle
choices during pregnancy, over 80% of women
were identified as having at least one unhealthy
lifestyle behaviour throughout pregnancy. The
characteristics of women who had a healthy
lifestyle compared to an unhealthy lifestyle
during the first trimester and the third trimester
of pregnancy are presented in Table 3. Factors
associated with a healthy lifestyle during the
first trimester of pregnancy included women of
Irish nationality, aged 35–39 years, and having
private health care. Women having their first baby
were more likely to engage in healthy behaviours
during the third trimester. More than two thirds
of women from the higher socioeconomic group
were found to have factors contributing to an
unhealthy lifestyle during the third trimester of
pregnancy, while one third of unhealthy women
had an unplanned pregnancy.
Of the 763 women who were found to have
unfavourable lifestyle choices during the first
trimester, 31% engaged in two and 15% in three or
more unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. During the
third trimester, 47% of women were found to have
two or more factors contributing to an unhealthy
pregnancy.
Perinatal outcomes associated with healthy
lifestyle choices during pregnancy are presented in
Table 4. In general, babies born to healthy mothers
had better outcomes compared to those born to
unhealthy mothers. A higher number of babies
born to women with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours
during pregnancy were preterm, weighing