Page 15 - Zero for nine: Reducing alcohol use during pregnancy via health counselling and Internet-based computer-tailored feedback

drinking patterns in Italy and Croatia, of all research available, these 1 studies provide the best applicable data to estimate the FASD prevalence
in the Netherlands. Thus, until valid epidemiological studies have been
conducted in the Netherlands, it can roughly be estimated that 2 to 6% of
all Dutch children suffer from the consequences of prenatal alcohol use. With approximately 200,000 births each year (Statistics Netherlands, 2014), it can be estimated that 4,000 to 12,000 Dutch babies are born each year with an FASD.
The magnitude of the health problem: How many pregnant women consume alcohol?
The importance of conducting the present research does not only depend on the severity of the effects of prenatal alcohol use, but also on the number of women actually using alcohol in pregnancy. Unfortunately, there are no recent representative data available on prenatal alcohol use in the Netherlands, but merely on alcohol use of women of childbearing age, revealing that in 2012, 80% of the women aged 16 to 50 years old consumed alcohol (Statistics Netherlands, 2013). In their advisory report on prenatal alcohol use, the Health Council of the Netherlands (2005) reported two older, non-representative Dutch studies examining the alcohol use of pregnant women. The largest study was conducted in 1978-1979 with 317 midwives gathering data from almost 3000 women on alcohol use during pregnancy, showing that 52% of the pregnant women used alcohol (De Jonge & van der Klaauw, 1986; Verkerk, et al., 1993). The second study was conducted in 1987 with 142 pregnant women showing that 32% used alcohol during pregnancy (Tholen, 1987). Based on these two studies, the Health Council of the Netherlands estimated in 2005 that 35 to 50% of the Dutch pregnant women use alcohol (Health Council of the Netherlands, 2005).
Since the publication of the Health Council’s report, four additional Dutch studies have published data on prenatal alcohol use, showing that the prevalence of prenatal alcohol use has not been subject to dramatic changes. These data collected between 2001 and 2009 provided
General Introduction
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