New alcohol care team pathways for supporting pregnant women

October 27, 2021

The alcohol care team and the specialist midwives have been working collaboratively to support pregnant women who are drinking alcohol. National guidance on drinking during pregnancy is unclear, but there is a collective recognition that any alcohol consumption is potentially harmful to the unborn baby. Therefore, women who are drinking alcohol during pregnancy should be made aware of the dangers of this and offered treatment and support as required.

Two new pathways have been created to support clinicians in referring patients to the alcohol care team, and any woman who is drinking any amount of alcohol during pregnancy can be referred with their consent.

The first pathway (Pregnant drinkers referrals to ACT) advises on how to refer to the alcohol care team. The second pathway (Alcohol dependent pregnant woman pathway – inpatient management), guides clinicians on how to manage alcohol withdrawal in alcohol dependent pregnant drinkers whilst an inpatient. The pathways can also be be found in ‘clinical guidelines for the management of alcohol withdrawal’ available on Connect.

For any further information regarding this, please contact the alcohol care team on ext. 5074.