GROWING UP IN IRELAND:WOMEN WITH the highest levels of education are most likely to drink alcohol during pregnancy, a major national study tracking the lives of 11,100 nine-month-olds has found.
The Growing Up In Ireland study, published yesterday by the Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews, also finds women with the lowest educational attainment are the most likely to smoke during pregnancy.
“Drinking alcohol at some stage in pregnancy was highest for mothers with a degree-level education (26 per cent). Mothers with the highest education were more likely to drink at any stage of pregnancy, in all three trimesters . . . than their peers with the lowest education.”
While 4 per cent of women with a secondary education or lower drank throughout the pregnancy, 8 per cent with a degree did.
Some 20 per cent of all mothers drank at some stage of pregnancy, and 18 per cent of smoked. While 30 per cent of mothers with only secondary education or less smoked through the pregnancy, just 3 per cent with a degree did.
The Government-funded research is following the progress of almost 20,000 children – 11,100 nine-month-olds and 8,500 nine-year-olds – and is being led by the ESRI and the Children’s Research Centre in Trinity College.
Researchers conducted indepth interviews with the parents about such issues as marital status, pregnancies, breastfeeding, immunisations, sleep, feeding, developmental progress, parent-child attachment, parental stress, work-life balance and services in the community.
The first results from the infants’ study were published yesterday and the children will be followed up again at age three.
In general, the report finds infants are doing well, though concerns are raised about relatively low breastfeeding rates among Irish-born mothers, patterns of smoking and drinking during pregnancy, and inequality related to socio-economic status of parents.
Just over half of all infants (57 per cent) were breastfed at some point, with 49 per cent being breast-fed on leaving hospital. Irish-born mothers are far less likely to breastfeed (48 per cent) than non-Irish born mothers (83 per cent).
Some 27 per cent of mothers were not born in Ireland. Infants of mothers born outside Ireland were less likely to suffer asthma and skin allergies and were more likely to have received their six-month vaccinations.
Mothers overall ranged from 16 to 49 years.
The study found gender differences already emerging in both temperament and developmental skills. “Boys had a higher fail rate for communication and personal social skills than girls, but a slightly lower fail rate on gross motor skills. These differences may reflect variation in the way adults interact with infants based on their gender (for example, encouraging boys to move around and play, while encouraging girls to talk), and not necessarily a biological difference . . .”
Speaking at the publication, Mr Andrews said the legal status of grandparents should be clarified, particularly in custody disputes.
Among the findings are that 38 per cent of nine-month-olds were in some form of non-parental care for an average of 25 hours per week, and grandparents were the most frequent providers of such care (12 per cent), followed by creche or day-centres (11 per cent).
Overall, 5 per cent lived in a household where there was a resident grandparent, with infants in lone-parent families much more likely to than those in two-parent households.
Asked if there should be legal clarification of the rights of grandparents, for example in custody disputes Mr Andrews said: “Absolutely. We see the huge number of grandparents who play a key role in their grandchildren’s lives. It is an area that’s ripe for some form of policy clarification, and legal clarification.”
Prof James Williams, of the ESRI and principal investigator, stressed the importancen of tracking the children into their teens. Funding is not in place.
