Modern Pediatrics. Ukraine. (2025).8(152): 45-53. doi: 10.15574/SP.2025.8(152).4553
Marushko К. R., Usenko N. M., Kotykovych Yu. S., Zaporozhska O. A., Nesterova O. Ye.
Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Kyiv

For citation: Marushko КR, Usenko NM, Kotykovych YuS, Zaporozhska OA, Nesterova OYe. (2025). Implementing a new model of counselling to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome in Ukraine: pre-implementation stage. Modern Pediatrics. Ukraine. 8(152): 45-53. doi: 10.15574/SP.2025.8(152).4553.
Article received: Sep 09, 2025. Accepted for publication: Dec 15, 2025.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a serious threat to maternal and fetal health, leading to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other disorders. Despite the existence of international recommendations for prevention, there is no standardized model of counselling pregnant women on alcohol consumption in Ukraine.
Aim – to study alcohol use behavior among women of reproductive age, including pregnant women, and assessed barriers, facilitators, and the feasibility of implementing an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C)-based counselling model for preventing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), as part of the The Joint Action Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases project.
Materials and methods. Focus group discussions were conducted with healthcare professionals and women of reproductive age. The data were analyzed by content analysis using MaxQDA and Excel software.
Results. After evaluation of the AUDIT-C-based counselling model healthcare providers indicated the following barriers: limited appointment time, insufficient preparation for motivational interviewing, and stigmatization of the topic. Women of reproductive age noted a low level of awareness of FAS and insufficient availability of information.
Conclusions. The study revealed that doctor overload, stigma, and low awareness of alcohol-related risks among women are major barriers to implementation. Optimizing the model requires training of healthcare professionals and better access to reliable information. Proposed AUDIT-C-based counselling model is feasible and has potential to strengthen alcohol prevention efforts within routine antenatal care in Ukraine. Our data serves as a basis for making new counselling model more efficient and targeted.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Keywords: fetal alcohol syndrome, AUDIT-C, motivational counselling model, healthy pregnancy, alcohol consumption, JAPreventNCD.

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