Heavy drinking raises the risk of pregnancy by 50% in women who strongly wish to avoid it, while cannabis use does not

Addiction Journal › Heavy Drinking Raises the Risk of Undesired Pregnancy; Cannabis Use Does Not

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Heavy drinking really ups the odds of an “oops” pregnancy. In a year-long observational study of 936 non-pregnant women (aged 15–34) who were dead set against getting pregnant, those who drank heavily had a 50% higher risk of an unintended pregnancy compared to moderate drinkers or teetotalers. By contrast, cannabis users—even daily ones—were just as unlikely to conceive by accident as non-users.

Lead author Dr Sarah Raifman points out the puzzle: heavy drinkers actually want to avoid pregnancy even more than others, yet still end up with more unplanned pregnancies. The next step is figuring out why this mismatch happens. Meanwhile, clinicians are urged to help heavy-drinking women cut back ASAP to reduce risks like fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.