[Pregnancy and psychoactives substances: prevalence study based on the declared consumption]

Evaluate substance use (tobacco, alcohol, psychotropic drugs, illicit drugs) declared before and during pregnancy.

Two hundred and forty-five pregnant women were interviewed through a self-administered and anonymous questionnaire as they were going to a prenatal consultation in a maternity hospital in the Parisian area.

Before pregnancy, 16.3% of women reported smoking and 10.2% carried on smoking during pregnancy. Altogether, 40.8% of women reported alcohol consumption before pregnancy; 25.3% of women had contact with alcohol during pregnancy; 4.5% reported tobacco and alcohol consumption during pregnancy. During the month preceding the study, the consumption of psychotropic drugs (hypnotics, antidepressants or sedatives) was reported by 3.7% of women and that of marijuana by 2.4%. Moreover, the marijuana consumers, who tend to drink alcohol more often, combine important social and familial difficulties and represent a high-risk group.

Tobacco and alcohol use in this study were lower than in any previously conducted French surveys. Methodological specificities and cultural factors might explain those results. However, this is the first study that asses substance use and marijuana use, in particular, by French pregnant women.