Make your office alcohol-exposed pregnancy prevention friendly

This article is third in a series on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and centers on preventing an alcohol exposed pregnancy (AEP). FASDs are 100% preventable if a woman does not drink alcohol during pregnancy. As many pregnancies are unintended, Arkansas providers would best serve childbearing women if they would routinely screen for alcohol use in all childbearing-aged women and encourage women to consider drinking reduction or elimination, or use of an effective method of contraception if they continue to drink alcohol. A systematic process in the clinical setting involving all office personnel enables screening to be a feasible process, otherwise busy clinicians alone often do not have the time to provide these services. A provider other than a physician, such as a trained nurse, can conduct brief interventions after a positive screen while the patient is in the clinic. These brief interventions have been shown to reduce the risk of an AEP. Additionally, there are multiple resources in Arkansas for women who need further treatment for an alcohol use disorder.