Overall
By Maternal Age
Heavy Drinking Among Females of Reproductive Age
Attitudes of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
Technical Notes
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) describes a range of birth defects that may occur as a result of an individual drinking alcohol while they are pregnant. It is the leading cause of preventable developmental delays. Alcohol exposure can damage the developing baby’s brain, organs and body, and result in problems that will last a lifetime. Risks to the fetus caused by alcohol are greatest during the early weeks of pregnancy when the person may not know they are pregnant. No amount or type of alcohol is safe during pregnancy and there is no safe time to drink alcohol while pregnant. For more information on alcohol use and pregnancy, please visit the raising children section of the health unit's website. Data on this page are from Ontario’s Better Outcomes Registry and Network (BORN), unless otherwise indicated. Data on drug use can be found on the Drug Use During Pregnancy page.
Overall
Among Simcoe Muskoka residents who gave birth in 2018, 96.4% (95.8%, 96.8%) report no alcohol use during their pregnancy. However, 190 (3.6% (3.2%, 4.2%)) people report some level of alcohol use during pregnancy. Among those reporting alcohol use, over half (55.4% (51.1%, 65.5%)) report that the use occurred before they knew they were pregnant, and another quarter (26.8% (20.7%33.7%)) report less than one drink per month. The percentage of Simcoe Muskoka residents who drank alcohol during pregnancy is significantly higher than across Ontario (2.5% (2.4%, 2.6%)). This is consistent with the higher level of alcohol use in Simcoe Muskoka for all populations compared to Ontario as presented on the Alcohol Use page.
The percentage of Simcoe Muskoka residents who drank alcohol during pregnancy has significantly increased from 2.5% (2.1%, 3.0%) in 2013 to 3.6% (3.2%, 4.2%) in 2018. The percentage of people across Ontario who drank alcohol during pregnancy has also increased from 1.5% (1.5%, 1.6%) in 2013 to 2.5% (2.4%, 2.6%) in 2018.
A significantly higher percentage of Simcoe Muskoka residents who drank alcohol during pregnancy report that the exposure occurred before they knew they were pregnant (58.4% (51.1%, 65.5%)) compared to Ontario (50.5% (48.8%. 52.2%)).
By Maternal Age
Approximately one in twenty (5.1%, (3.5%, 7.2%)) of people aged 15-24 years reported alcohol use during pregnancy. This is not significantly different from the percentage of people aged 25-34 (3.2% (2.7%, 3.9%)) or aged 35-49 (3.4% (2.3%, 4.7%)).
Heavy Drinking Among Females of Reproductive Age
According to the 2015/2016 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 25.8% (18.8%, 34.4%) of Simcoe Muskoka females of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) report heavy drinking in the past 12 months. This was significantly higher than the 17.9% (16.6%, 19.4%) of Ontario females of reproductive age.
Attitudes of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
In 2015 in Simcoe Muskoka, a random sample of adults (18 years and older) were asked about how much alcohol is safe for a pregnant woman to drink, as part of the Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS). The majority (85.9% (82.9%, 88.5%)) agreed that there was no safe amo&unt of alcohol for a pregnant person to drink.
Technical Notes
Multiple data sources are used to gain an understanding of alcohol use in people of reproductive age, pregnant people and the awareness of the consequences of using alcohol during pregnancy. Please see the Data Sources page to learn more about each data source: