-
New blood tests reveal the drinking habits of pregnant women
Pregnant women are being asked to take new blood tests that reveal their drinking habits and could leave them accused of putting the health of their unborn children at risk.
The test, which gives results in an hour, allows midwives to construct a picture of how much a mother-to-be has drunk over the previous fortnight, even if she has avoided alcohol in the days before the appointment.
The blood test reveals evidence of heavy long-term drinking, while a related urine test also reveals more occasional binge-drinking. Excessive drinking during pregnancy can lead to a range of mental and physical birth defects known collectively as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
The blood test, which is used occasionally by airlines to monitor the alcohol intake of pilots, has been introduced by a hospital in North London.
The innovation arose from a chance conversation between a biochemist and a senior midwife at the Homerton Hospital in Hackney last November.
The midwife said that it was a pity there was nothing available to find out how much pregnant women were really drinking. Jean Deenmamode, the biochemist, said that there was, at his on-site laboratory. Since then, about 300 tests, costing £18 each, have been carried out on a voluntary basis. The Department of Health has been told of the programme and said that it would keep it “under consideration”.
“The midwives said they were unhappy that they were not really getting an accurate picture of alcohol consumption in some women. They were using detective work really, asking questions and trying to build a picture,” Mr Deenmamode told The Times.
“They were amazed when I said this test was being conducted in the hospital lab already. Now they offer it as a ‘lifestyle alcohol assessment’. It’s voluntary, but routine at the time of the first booking appointment. We have not fully evaluated it yet but the midwives are convinced it is leading to a reduction in drinking because women are faced with actual evidence on a chart.”
The test for heavy drinking is called CDT and traces the carbohydrate deficient transferrin protein, which is elevated in the blood for several weeks when excessive amounts of alcohol are ingested. The test for binge-drinking is called EtG and traces ethyl glucuronide in urine. It is a direct metabolite of alcohol and can be traced many days after drinking in serum, hair, saliva, urine and post-mortem tissue.
Normally these tests take days to turn around. The laboratory at Homerton is the only one in the country that can produce results within the hour.
Three years ago the Government changed its advice and recommended that pregnant women should avoid alcohol altogether — it had previously suggested that moderate drinking was safe. But midwives said it was not clear if that had had a major impact. They hoped the test could soon be available at other hospitals.
Moira Marks, a specialist midwife at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, said: “Women want to do the best for their babies, but they are often in denial about how much they are drinking. This test can be a wake-up call and can motivate them to cut down or stop.”
Ms Marks suggested that midwives first raised the subject of drinking as part of a general chat about sleeping and diet, and asked women if they had heard about the national recommendations to stop, rather than telling them.
She added that it was important that midwives did not just let the issue go if women were evasive.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
0 comments: