Alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy among women attending Midwife Obstetric Units in the Cape metropole, South Africa

Petersen Williams, Petal, Jordaan, Esmé, Mathews, Catherine, Lombard, Carl and Parry, Charles D H (2014) Alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy among women attending Midwife Obstetric Units in the Cape metropole, South Africa. Adv. Prev. Med., 2014. p. 871427.

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Abstract

Little is known about the nature and extent of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use among pregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa, despite the very high levels of AOD use in this part of the country. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among pregnant women attending 11 Midwife Obstetric Units (MOUs) in greater Cape Town. A two-stage cluster survey design was used. In total, 5231 pregnant women were screened to assess self-reported prevalence estimates. Of these, 684 (13.1 were intentionally subsampled and completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire and provided a urine sample for biological screening. Urinalyses showed that 8.895 6.7-10.9) of the subsample tested positive for at least one illicit drug. This is higher than the self-reported prevalence (3.6. In addition, 19.695 16.3-22.8) of the sub-sample tested positive for alcohol which is lower than the self-reported prevalence (36.9. There are high levels of substance use among pregnant women attending public sector antenatal clinics. There is a need for routine screening for AOD use and appropriate responses depending on the women's level of risk.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The CDC had no further role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of our field work staff, in particular Elmarie Nel and Nomtha Madlingozi, and the staff and patients at the various Midwife Obstetric Units (MOUs) where data were collected. The authors further wish to thank the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health for granting permission to conduct the survey in the antenatal facilities.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	05 Mar 2026 14:30
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2026 16:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102223
DOI:	10.1155/2014/871427

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