Obstetrical textbooks: recommendations about drinking during pregnancy.
BACKGROUND
For the past 2 decades, public health authorities have recommended that pregnant women abstain from alcohol. We reviewed obstetrical textbooks published over the last 4 decades to identify trends in recommendations for drinking during pregnancy. The study was begun in 2000 and completed in 2001.


METHODS
Eighty-one texts were identified from a national listing service (n =51) and local library shelves (n =30).


RESULTS
Only 14 (17%) of the texts contained a consistent recommendation that pregnant women should not drink alcohol. Although there was a slight upward trend toward recommendations for abstinence in more recent texts, only 24% of the 29 texts published after 1990 were in this category. Fifty-three percent of all texts and 52% of texts published after 1990 contained a sentence condoning drinking at some level. The remaining texts (30%) contained no recommendations.


CONCLUSIONS
Many texts, even those published recently, have not embraced public health recommendations and, in some instances, contradict them.
Loop
Karen Q
KQ
Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Internal Medicine, Richmond, Virginia 23298, USA.
Nettleman
Mary D
MD
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics; D011247:Pregnancy; D013782:Textbooks as Topic