Preconception alcohol consumption in both partners and risk of miscarriage

Is maternal or paternal alcohol consumption before conception linked to miscarriage risk? The Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO) is an ongoing web-based prospective cohort study of couples trying to conceive. All primary data collection occurred through self-administered questionnaires. Baseline questionnaires from both partners gathered data on sociodemographics, medical history, anthropometrics, and lifestyle factors, including preconception alcohol consumption. Female participants provided data on pregnancy outcomes in follow-up questionnaires. Cox proportional hazards regression models were employed to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the association between preconception alcohol consumption in both partners and miscarriage rate.
The study included 9,414 female (average age 30 years) and 2,613 male (average age 32 years) participants. About 27% of the female participants reported no preconception alcohol use, compared to 20% of males. Approximately 20% of pregnancies ended in miscarriage. After adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and reproductive variables, no significant association was observed between preconception alcohol intake and miscarriage. In the couples-based analysis of the relationship between miscarriage and preconception alcohol use, compared with female participants who reported no alcohol intake, the hazard ratios for those reporting 0.1-6.9, 7-13.9, and ≥14 drinks per week were 0.91 (95% CI 0.74-1.13), 1.06 (95% CI 0.77-1.46), and 0.80 (95% CI 0.43-1.52), respectively; for males, the hazard ratios were 0.94 (95% CI 0.74-1.19), 0.93 (95% CI 0.70-1.25), and 0.84 (95% CI 0.59-1.19), respectively. Results were consistent across types of alcohol (wine, spirits, beer) and within subgroups based on age, history of miscarriage, and gestational age.
Source: Eisenberg ML, Scott M, Seranio N, Zhang CA, Glover F, Ha AS, Hatch EE, Rothman KJ, Wang TR, Wesselink AK, & Wise LA. (2025) Preconception alcohol consumption in both partners and risk of miscarriage. Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 51(2):104698.