FASD can cause ADHD, autism and other neurological conditions.
This year World FASD Day is on September 9th and important to raise awareness of FASD because many studies have linked alcohol consumption by pregnant women with several developmental problems in babies.
Foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), which include foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), alcohol-related birth defects and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), are thought to affect many babies born worldwide each year.
A recent study carried out in Ireland’s Coombe Hospital in Dublin found that 82% of women had continued to drink during their pregnancy. That is almost 8 times more than women in the UK, USA and Australia.
FASDs is associated with many developmental problems in babies including poor growth, decreased muscle tone and poor co-ordination, significant functional problems in thinking, speech and movement as well as behaviour problems.
Dr Kieran O’Malley, consultant psychiatrist at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, said “It seems we are 20 years behind North America with FASDs in Ireland, not dissimilar to how we dealt with child abuse. It is a socio-cultural issue. The truth is there are no safe amounts of alcohol in pregnancy.”
“If a foetus is exposed to alcohol, it chemically increases its craving. I have seen six and seven year olds who steal cough medicines because they can smell it. They go to it like bees to honey.”
Dr O’Malley continued “They can be helped if diagnosed under three when the brain is still plastic and so amenable to motor or sensory integration physical therapies and maybe even nutritional therapies.”
Many experts feel that warning labels on alcoholic drinks are essential. Michele Savage, founder of support organisation FASD Ireland said that “Since 1989, the US has had warning labels on alcohol and there has been a huge drop in alcohol consumption by pregnant women to 10-12%.”
“This is not about policing women’s pregnancy, but we wish women knew that if they are pregnant alcohol won’t help their baby.”
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: Irish Times
We now know too that the damaging effects of alcohol exposure before birth can be passed down through generations through epigenetic processes. Ideally both parents should plan for pregnancy and refrain from drinking for three months prior to conception. But then that’s an ideal world and one that children should be brought into. Too many pregnancies result from hapless lifecourses and the child’s destiny is determined before they are born. Doctors need to ensure they are all giving the same message, that is, it is safest not to drink.
I’m horrified that in Victoria, new research is being done on low and moderate alcohol intake in pregnancy by the murdoch institute and govt funded!