Most Americans know that how well a mother takes care of herself before and during pregnancy affects the health of a baby, but many people remain unclear about some specific maternal health recommendations, including when to start avoiding alcohol, according to a new nationally representative survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
Among both adults and the subgroup of women of childbearing age (18 to 49 years), the survey finds significant increases in the year from April 2025 to April 2026 in knowing that how well a person takes care of their own health before getting pregnant affects the health of their baby.
In addition, the already high proportion of women of childbearing age who know that drinking beer or wine during pregnancy is not safe increased significantly since 2025 by 8 percentage points, to 90% from 82%. However, nearly 1 in 3 people do not know that if you are trying to become pregnant, you should not drink alcohol.
Many other maternal health measures remain unchanged, according to Wave 29 of the Annenberg Science and Public Health (ASAPH) survey, which was conducted April 14-28, 2026, among 1,639 U.S. adults. See the end of this release or the topline
