Women with a tertiary degree were twice more likely to continue drinking throughout pregnancy at moderate/high levels than women whose highest level of education was a secondary school certificate. While the evidence on the association of educational attainment on pregnancy drinking is conflicting, the Generation R study also reported that more highly educated women were also more likely to continue alcohol consumption in pregnancy [40]. Conversely, level of education was not associated with prenatal drinking in an analysis combining two US-based cohorts [41] and alcohol use was more common with lower education in two European studies investigating the effect of PAE with child outcomes [42, 43]. In Australia, the rationale for tertiary students using alcohol is well documented [44], with the proposition that engagement in a culture of drinking may lead to a tolerant attitude to alcohol consumption across the lifespan.
