Alcohol

Our Director, Dr. Nancy Poole, is a world leader on alcohol and women’s and perinatal health. Under her leadership, our team has worked extensively in this area. We have provided expertise on the updates to Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, led Canada’s research on the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and continue to support practice improvements, participate in national networks focused on alcohol policy, and perform evaluations for programs that serve pregnant and parenting women who use substances.

Info Sheets and Guides:

• Women and Alcohol Info Sheet (English, French, 2024) – This info sheet provides general information about alcohol, sex and gender factors relevant to women’s health, and evidence related to pregnancy, breastfeeding, and parenting.
• Taking Care: A Short Guide to Breastfeeding and Substance Use (English, French, 2021) – This resource offers prompts and activities to support decision-making about substance use while breastfeeding.

Journal Articles:

• Sex, gender and alcohol: implications for males, men and the communication of risk (2024)
• Supporting pregnant and parenting women who use alcohol during pregnancy: A scoping review of trauma-informed approaches (2023)
• Sex, Gender, and Alcohol Use: Implications for Women and Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines (2022)
• “The Problem Is that We Hear a Bit of Everything . . . ”: A Qualitative Systematic Review of Factors Associated with Alcohol Use, Reduction, and Abstinence in Pregnancy (2021)

Collaborations and Partnerships:

• Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health (2023) – Our team was involved with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction’s evidence review and guideline creation, offering expertise on evaluating sex and gender related factors impacting alcohol use and risks, as well as risks to reproductive and perinatal health.
• Healthy Care Pregnancy Program Evaluation 2020-2022 – We conducted an evaluation of the BC Association of Pregnancy Outreach Programs’ pilot which supports pregnant, postpartum, and new parents who use or have used substances in BC.
• Co-Creating Evidence Evaluation Project (2017-2020) – Conducted in collaboration with Nota Bene Consulting Group, this was a multi-site evaluation of 8 community-based programs across Canada that support women with substance use and complex issues through harm reduction, trauma-informed, culturally safe, and women-centred wraparound approaches:
  • Executive Summary
  • Full Report
  • A Mustard Seed of Hope: Culturally grounded approaches within wraparound care for pregnant and parenting women dealing with substance use and trauma
  • Digital handbook on wraparound programs – English or French
  • Visit the FASD Evaluation website for more resources, including 12 two-page info sheets on key components

Learn more:

• Visit the Publications page to find related journal articles and other publications of interest.