A new study of more than 2,000 non-pregnant women found that heavy alcohol consumption was clearly associated with a higher likelihood of unintended pregnancy, while cannabis use showed no such connection.
Researchers focused on a subgroup of 936 women between the ages of 15 and 34 who reported a strong desire to avoid pregnancy. Within this group, 429 reported heavy alcohol use, while 362 reported cannabis use, including 157 who consumed cannabis daily or nearly every day.
The study found that women who drank heavily not only expressed a greater desire to avoid pregnancy compared to moderate or non-drinkers, but they also faced a significantly higher chance of becoming pregnant within a year. Out of the 71 unintended pregnancies recorded, 38 occurred among heavy drinkers—more than the total combined for those who drank moderately or not at all.
By comparison, cannabis use did not correlate with a heightened risk. Of the 71 pregnancies, 28 were among cannabis users, showing no difference compared to non-users.
Lead author Dr. Sarah Raifman, of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, said, “This study made two important findings. First, non-pregnant women who drink heavily appear, on average, to have a higher desire to avoid pregnancy than those who drink moderately or not at all. Second, drinking heavily as opposed to moderately or not at all appears to put those who most want to avoid pregnancy at higher risk of becoming pregnant within one year. Finding out why those pregnancies happen is the next step in our research.”
She added, “In the meantime, given the potentially life-altering effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (which occur when a fetus is exposed to alcohol through the mother’s drinking) and the fact that the risk of FASD increases with the amount and duration of the mother’s drinking, it’s important for doctors and clinicians to support women who drink heavily to stop drinking as soon as they suspect an unintentional pregnancy.”
The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
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