Drinking during pregnancy rose after 2020, new CDC data suggest
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- CDC released a report showing 15% of adult pregnant women reported drinking in the prior 30 days between 2021‑2024, up from 13.5% in 2018‑2020.
- CDC authors note that pregnant women who are unmarried or experience frequent mental distress are more than twice as likely to binge or heavy drink compared with peers.
- STAT reports that health‑care providers often hesitate to refer pregnant patients to substance‑use disorder treatment or prescribe medications, partly because pregnant women are excluded from clinical trials.
- CDC recommends routine screening for alcohol consumption and mental‑health conditions during pregnancy, and suggests point‑of‑sale warning signs and higher alcohol taxes as possible interventions.
- Trump officials have impeded tracking of alcohol use during and after pregnancy, with cuts to CDC staff leaving the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in limbo.
- HHS has not released the most recent 2023 PRAMS data, which includes several measures of alcohol consumption in pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Why it matters: The increase to 15% means more fetuses are exposed to ethanol, a known cause of birth defects and intellectual disability, raising the burden on health‑care systems and families. Unmarried and mentally distressed women are disproportionately affected, while limited screening and data gaps hinder timely intervention.
