Call to highlight drinking-while-pregnant risks

  Government and society need to do more to address attitudes to alcohol and drinking during pregnancy in light of the impact on unborn children. The BMA has updated a 2007 report, Alcohol and Pregnancy: Preventing and Managing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. The association is urging all UK Governments to do more to highlight the risks of drinking during pregnancy, which can result in anything from mild cognitive impairment to significant developmental disorders associated with FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome). Revised guidelines published in January by the UK chief medical officers advise men and women to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week. A unit will typically equate to half a pint of ordinary-strength beer, lager or cider at 3 to 4 per cent volume or a small (125 ml) glass of 12 per cent-strength wine. A commitment to doing more to tackle FAS was approved at last year’s BMA annual representative meeting. As a result, the association has updated and republished its 2007 report. BMA board of science chair Baroness Sheila Hollins said: ‘It has long been known that maternal alcohol consumption can have damaging effects on the fetus. 'Yet the stark reality is that a large number of children are born every year in the UK with life-long physical, behavioural and cognitive disabilities caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy. ‘There is still a scandalous lack of support for many of these children, who live and grow up with the impact of...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news