Alcohol and Pregnancy: Communication Materials for Healthcare Professionals and Patients

Messaging about alcohol use during pregnancy can be challenging. Misconceptions continue to exist in the media and among healthcare professionals and the public about this issue. Healthcare professionals are a trusted source of health information. It is important that they have the tools they need to talk about this topic in a nonjudgmental, nonstigmatizing way. Much work remains to be done to address counseling patients of reproductive age, removing stigma around messaging, and normalizing the conversation about alcohol use.

CDC recently funded research to assess healthcare professional and patient attitudes about alcohol use during pregnancy. This research also examined messaging and approaches to encourage conversations about alcohol use during pregnancy and the use of alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI). These findings were used to create a communication guide for partners and a suite of “Let’s Talk” materials for both healthcare professionals and patients.

Let’s Talk Materials

Materials for CDC Partner Organizations

Let's Talk - Communicating about alcohol and pregnancy

Communication Guide

The guide is intended to support CDC and partner organizations in consistently communicating evidence-based messages about alcohol use during pregnancy, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), and alcohol SBI. The guide summarizes research on healthcare professional and patients’ attitudes and preferences for messaging. It also shares approaches to encourage alcohol SBI and conversations about alcohol use during pregnancy.

Materials for Healthcare Professionals

Links to the resources can be shared via partner communication channels and can easily be disseminated as email attachments. National partners, healthcare professional organizations, and other federal agencies can also include the resources on their websites. Clinics or health systems can also print hard copies to distribute to healthcare professionals as appropriate.

Fact Sheets

Four fact sheets, each addressing a separate topic, serve as reference documents for healthcare professionals. Plain text versions are available to save on printing resources.

Badge Cards

Badge cards are provided in both print-ready format (3.35” x 2.13” PDFs) and graphics optimized for smartphones (1080p x 1920p PNGs). Healthcare professionals can quickly reference these documents during clinical encounters with patients, either in print or digital format. Healthcare professionals and systems can print and laminate hard copies for healthcare professionals to carry or attach to their badges. Health systems and clinics can also integrate the content into their electronic medical records or other healthcare professional resources.

Video

This animated video introduces alcohol SBI to healthcare professionals who are not yet conducting this preventive service or are not doing so consistently. Health systems and clinics can share the video with healthcare professionals in huddles, staff meetings, grand rounds, or other brief training and reminder settings. Health systems and clinics can also integrate the video into their online healthcare professional resources. The video can be used in conjunction with badge cards to support practice change.

Commentary

The article can be posted in national partner and healthcare professional organizations’ newsletters, bulletins, and other channels used for communicating with healthcare professionals.

Materials for Patients

Links to the resources can be shared via partner communication channels and can easily be disseminated as email attachments. National partners, healthcare professional organizations, and other federal agencies can also include the resources on their websites. Clinics or health systems can also print hard copies to distribute to healthcare professionals or post digital resources, as appropriate.

Infographics

Let’s Talk About Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

Two infographics were developed specifically for patients. One is for patients who are pregnant or are intending to be pregnant. The other is for patients not intending to be pregnant soon. These infographics can be printed as a large poster to place in exam rooms, given as a hard copy printout by the healthcare professional during a visit, or shared through various digital communication formats (e.g., patient portal, text messaging platform, email).

Short-Form Videos

Two videos are available that are optimized for viewing on a mobile device. Healthcare professionals can share these videos with patients via the healthcare professionals’ usual digital patient communication formats. For example, they could be linked in text message reminders, clinic websites, patient portals, or social media posts.

Long-Form Video

A long-form video appeals to a broad audience of people who can impact decisions about alcohol use during pregnancy (e.g., partners, grandparents) as well as patients of reproductive age. This animated video can be shared on digital monitors in clinical office waiting areas and through healthcare professionals’ usual digital patient communication formats. For example, it could be a link in text message reminders, clinic websites, patient portals, or social media posts.

Message Sets

Let's talk. Alcohol and Pregnancy

Healthcare professionals can share these messages via their usual digital patient communication formats (e.g., text reminders, emails, patient portals, and social media posts). Healthcare professionals can also use the messages as talking points in conversations with patients.

A total of eight sets of graphics are available in two sizes (1200p x 675p and 1080p x 1080p PNGs). This allows for a variety of placements on social media and other communication channels. These graphics are intended to pair with the message sets. The 1080p x 1080p (square) graphics are intended to be posted together as an album/carousel.

Let’s Talk graphics for patients who are not intending to be pregnant soon

Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soonLet’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon
Let’s Talk graphic for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon

Let’s Talk graphics for patients who are pregnant or intend to be pregnant soon

Let's talk graphic
What are the risk of drinking alcohol while pregnant??
Alcohol use during pregnancy is associated with risk.
FASDs are preventable.
Let's talk about alcohol and pregnancy
Let's talk about alcohol and pregnancy
Some people say it is okay to drink a little bit of wine while pregnant. Is that true?
Some babies may not be affected by alcohol during pregnancy, while others have lifelong effects
The safest thing to do is avoid any type of alcohol use during pregnancy.
The safest thing to do is avoid any type of alcohol use during pregnancy
Alcohol use during pregnancy can harm a baby throughout pregnancy. There is no safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy.
Let's talk about alcohol and pregnancy
Some people say it is okay to drink a little bit of wine while pregnant. Is that true?
Some babies may not be affected by alcohol during pregnancy, while others have lifelong effects
The safest thing to do is avoid any type of alcohol use during pregnancy.
Let's talk alcohol and pregnancy. Some people say it's okay to drink a little bit of wine while pregnant. Is that true?
Let's talk graphic
What are the risk of drinking alcohol while pregnant??
Alcohol use during pregnancy is associated with risk.
FASDs are preventable.
Let's talk about alcohol and pregnancy

Editorial Article

Healthcare professionals or health systems can post the article on their patient resources web or blog pages.