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Article Summary: Fathers’ Role in Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies

We received a reader question about the effect of fathers’ alcohol use on child outcomes. Luckily, there was a review article published in 2016 on this very topic (included in our Top 20 FASD Articles of 2016). The CanFASD Prevention Network Action Team blog Girls, Women, Alcohol, and Pregnancy also highlighted the article in their post Alcohol and FASD: It’s not just about women.

Father’s Role in Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies: Systematic Review of Human Studies

Authors: Nyanda McBride and Sophia Johnson                                                                 Journal: American Journal of Preventative Medicine   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27017419

The authors review three research areas in terms of fathers’ alcohol use as it relates to alcohol-exposed pregnancies and FASD:

  1. Men’s role in the social facilitation of maternal alcohol use during preconception and pregnancy:

Authors’ take home message: Decisions about alcohol use during preconception and pregnancy are not the sole responsibility of women but occur within the context of the home and the broader social environment, and thus require more complex policy to assist in reducing alcohol-exposed pregnancies and increasing the potential for healthy fetal and infant outcomes.

CanFASD produced a two-page information sheet with some suggestions for how men can make a difference in preventing maternal alcohol use:

Access the info sheet here: https://fasdprevention.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/what-men-can-do-_final-feb-2014.pdf

This post on the CanFASD Girls, Women, Alcohol, and Pregnancy blog also discusses the shared responsibility of FASD prevention and has several resources for how partners can support women during pregnancy.

2. Paternal alcohol consumption on sperm and fetal outcomes:

Authors’ take home message: Policies recommending biological fathers to reduce or abstain from alcohol during the preconception phase, particularly during the period of sperm development prior to conception, have value.

3. Paternal alcohol consumption on fetal and infant health outcomes:

Authors’ final take home message: Fathers’ preconception alcohol consumption is an important focus for healthcare and future policy dealing with reproductive, prenatal, fetal, and infant health.  

 

 

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