Table 4 Screening and ABI delivery

Role legitimacy

The role is constantly growing whereas the midwife’s capacity probably isn’t growing in time with that. But I think midwives see health promotion and public health as part of their role (M15).

Misconception of screening and ABI initiative

To me it (ABI) means their alcohol consumption is unsafe and this is the recommendations, that is to me what a brief intervention is and if it is unsafe then we are going to refer on that’s part of it (M18, FG).

I think it is good to raise awareness about alcohol and that all we are doing, we are not doing any particular ABI in trying to cure them or anything that is not my job. I am here to educate them to be responsible parents and realise that it is not a good thing to do in pregnancy and just to raise awareness of alcohol consumption (M1).

Few ABIs delivered

Fortunately, I have never had anybody since we started it that needed the help (M1).

Missed opportunity

I haven’t come across any problems so far but as I say there is only one girl who has just booked with me and I don’t know but she has admitted to having about eight units every two weeks (M3).

Importance of alcohol screening

People don’t think they’ve got a problem but once you start adding the units up there’s a fair bit there but then they don’t hide it because they didn’t think it was a problem, you get more out of them than you would before when you just wrote down social drinking, no problem (M21, FG).

Additional resources

Because of the confusion with units (of alcohol) we have cup measures and we have slide rules that we got from the alcohol brief interventions team so that we can show women that vodka, “wicked” or whatever is one and half units and not just one unit. Sometimes that is just enough for them to think, oh my goodness I didn’t think it is so many units! (M7).