Under the Influence

A new study reveals many fathers-to-be continue substance use during their partners’ pregnancies, increasing the likelihood that Mom will again pick up the habit

By Christina Owens
CTW Features

In fifteen words, the surgeon general’s warning label on a box of Camels or a bottle of Corona directly states the threat pregnant women pose to their unborn children by smoking or drinking during pregnancy. But it seems that the surgeon general left out an important factor: fathers.

According to a new study from the University of Washington, men’s levels of substance use during their partners’ pregnancies is even higher than those of women – even those women who intermittently drink or smoke throughout a pregnancy.

This one-sided attempt at quitting can affect the chance that a woman will resume smoking or drinking after the baby is born. “The months after childbirth are critical for intervening with mothers,” says Jennifer Bailey, one of the study’s lead authors. “For example, many have already done the hard work of quitting smoking and haven’t smoked a cigarette in six months or more…We know that if Dad is smoking or drinking, it is more likely that Mom will resume smoking or drinking.”

While the overall rates of cigarette and marijuana use and binge drinking for women decline during pregnancy, those rates begin rising again during the first six months following the birth of a baby. Co-author of the study Karl Hill says it’s time to bring the fathers-to-be into the equation.

“Pregnancy seems like such a great public health opportunity to reach parents, but no one is talking to dads, and this study shows that they are not changing their substance use behavior,” he says. “What dads do matters, and we want them to reduce their substance abuse.”

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