Factors affecting the outcome of maternal alcohol exposure: I. Parity.

Despite relatively comparable amounts of alcohol ingestion, not all women who drink excessively give birth to children with fetal alcohol effects. One reason for this differential effect may be maternal parity. To explore this question, pregnant rats of the same age but different parities (first and fourth pregnancy) were intubated during pregnancy with alcohol. Whereas both parity and alcohol exposure independently affected birth weight and perinatal mortality, there was no interaction between the two suggesting that parity per se is not a factor contributing to the differential effects of maternal alcohol consumption on offspring.