Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20891
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Alcohol brief interventions in Scottish antenatal care: A qualitative study of midwives' attitudes and practices
Author(s): Doi, Lawrence
Cheyne, Helen
Jepson, Ruth
Contact Email: h.l.cheyne@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Midwives
Pregnant women
Screening and alcohol brief interventions
Fetal harm
Qualitative research
Issue Date: May-2014
Date Deposited: 13-Aug-2014
Citation: Doi L, Cheyne H & Jepson R (2014) Alcohol brief interventions in Scottish antenatal care: A qualitative study of midwives' attitudes and practices. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 14 (1), Art. No.: 170. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-14-170
Abstract: Background: Infants exposed to alcohol in the womb are at increased risk of experiencing health problems. However, mixed messages about the consequences of prenatal alcohol consumption have resulted in inconsistent attitudes and practices amongst some healthcare practitioners. Screening and alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) can reduce risky drinking in various clinical settings. Recently, a program of screening and ABIs have been implemented in antenatal care settings in Scotland. However, current evidence suggests that midwives' involvement in alcohol brief interventions activities is patchy. This study explored midwives' attitudes and practices regarding alcohol screening and ABIs in order to understand why they are relatively underutilized in antenatal care settings compared to other clinical settings. Methods: This was a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews with 15 midwives and a focus group with a further six midwifery team leaders (21 participants in total) in Scotland. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Midwives were positive about their involvement in the screening and ABI program. However, they were not completely convinced about the purpose and value of the screening and ABIs in antenatal care. In the midst of competing priorities, the program was seen as having a low priority in their workload. Midwives felt that the rapport between them and pregnant women was not sufficiently established at the first antenatal appointment to allow them to discuss alcohol issues appropriately. They reported that many women had already given up drinking or were drinking minimal amounts prior to the first antenatal appointment. Conclusions: Midwives recognised the important role they could play in alcohol intervention activities in antenatal care. As the majority of women stop consuming alcohol in pregnancy, many will not need an ABI. Those who have not stopped are likely to need an ABI, but midwives were concerned that it was this group that they were most likely to alienate by discussing such concerns. Further consideration should be given to pre-pregnancy preventative measures as they are more likely to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies.
DOI Link: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-170
Rights: © 2014 Doi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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