Project CHOICES, a CDC initiative, identified 190 women in Florida, Texas, and Virginia who were at risk of consuming alcohol during pregnancy, using the AUDIT (mean score = 17). Participants received four motivational interviewing sessions and one visit to a family planning provider.

After six months, 69 percent had reduced their risk for having an alcohol-involved pregnancy, either by decreasing alcohol intake (fewer than eight drinks per week and no more than five drinks at one time during the preceding six months), using contraceptive more effectively, or both.

Based on AUDIT score rank [low (1-7), medium (8-16), or high (17 or above)], women with medium and high AUDIT scores more successfully reduced their alcohol intake to manage their risk, while women with low AUDIT scores were more likely to use contraceptives effectively.

"Women with higher alcohol-use patterns might have been more sensitized to the potential problematic nature of their alcohol use and might have chosen to reduce drinking because of their desire to improve their overall health," MMWR editors noted. "Women with lower alcohol use patterns at baseline might not have perceived their use as problematic but did respond to the message of effective contraception use to avoid an unintended prenatal alcohol exposure."

In 1999, approximately 500,000 pregnant women reported having one or more drinks during the preceding month, and approximately 130,000 reported having seven or more drinks per week or five or more drinks at one time.

A randomized control study to test this study's outcomes is under way.

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