Alcohol and drug consumption in pregnant women admitted to a hospital in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Initial Impact Assessment on the Newborn

Introduction: The objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of prenatal exposure to drugs and the neonatal impact.

Material and methods: Prospective, observational, cross-sectional and analytical study of pregnant women and newborns admitted between March and September 2021. To estimate the prevalence of consumption, the survey and detection of drugs in maternal urine were used as a detection method.

Results: Alcohol consumption had a prevalence of 46.32%, followed by tobacco with 12.12%, marijuana with 5.62% and cocaine with 4.76%. The weight of newborns with mothers with urine positive for some substance was significantly lower than the weight of newborns with mothers with negative urine (mean ± SE of 2800±184gr vs 3332±41gr and median ± MAD of 2950±380gr vs 3385± 335g p 0.002). Gestational age was also significantly lower in neonates with mothers with positive urine (38.00 vs 39.00 p 0.002). Although the prevalence of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), malformations, and prematurity was higher in those cases with positive urine, the difference did not become statistically significant.

Conclusions: The prevalence of substance and alcohol use during pregnancy was high with a statistically significant impact on exposed newborns for both weight and gestational age.