Bibliographic Info
GuidelineWHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience
Year of Publication2016
Issuing InstitutionWHO
Recommendation
Status
Updated
Recommended
Certainty of evidence
Low
Health-care providers should ask all pregnant women about their use of alcohol and other substances (past and present) as early as possible in the pregnancy and at every antenatal care visit
Notes and Remarks
- 1.This strong recommendation based on low-quality evidence has been integrated from the 2014 WHO Guidelines for the identification and management of substance use and substance use disorders in pregnancy The overarching principles of this guideline aimed to prioritize prevention, ensure access to prevention and treatment services, respect women’s autonomy, provide comprehensive care, and safeguard against discrimination and stigmatization.
- 2.The GDG responsible for the recommendation noted that asking women at every ANC visit is important as some women are more likely to report sensitive information only after a trusting relationship has been established.
- 3.Pregnant women should be advised of the potential health risks to themselves and to their babies posed by alcohol and drug use.
- Validated screening instruments for alcohol and other substance use and substance use disorders are available (see full guidelines for more details).
- 4.Health-care providers should be prepared to intervene or refer all pregnant women who are identified as using alcohol and/or drugs (past and present).
- 5.It was decided that despite the low-quality evidence on effects of brief psychosocial interventions, the benefit (potential reduction of alcohol and substance use) outweighed any potential harms, which were considered to be minimal.
- 6.A brief intervention is a structured therapy of short duration (typically 5–30 minutes) offered with the aim of assisting an individual to cease or reduce use of a psychoactive substance.
- 7.Further guidance on interventions and strategies to identify and manage substance use and substance use disorders in pregnancy can be found in the 2014 WHO guidelines , available at: http://www.who.int/ substance_abuse/publications/pregnancy_guidelines/en/