Pregnancy and alcohol don't mix

The warning came following calls to introduce mandatory warning labels on alcohol bottles specifically targeting pregnant women.

The National Health and Medical Research Council report said warning messages should appear on individual containers of alcoholic beverages and at the point of sale for unpackaged alcoholic beverages.

Lyndon Community addiction medicine physician Rod McQueen said many women still drink despite the horrific damage it could do to their unborn child.

“The brain is developing all the way through pregnancy ... you don’t have to be a heavy drinker to have foetal alcohol spectrum (FAS),” he said.

Mr McQueen said FAS cost the taxpayer a significant amount each year due to the difficulties children with FAS develop.

He said it was not just obvious facial characteristics, FAS could impact a child’s development and could lead to learning difficulties, anger issues, fits and cot death.

“Every health worker, every teacher, every police officer, every youth worker will see the effect of FAS without knowing it,” he said.

“In severe forms the brain doesn’t learn to form patterns.”

Minister for Health Jillian Skinner at a recent Food Ministerial Council meeting agreed that warnings about the risks of consuming alcohol while pregnant should be pursued.

“I support the introduction of warning labels for pregnant women and am keen to see this initiative progressed,” she said.

“On the whole, I am supportive of measures that will impact positively on the health impacts for women and their babies.”

Western NSW Local Health District psychiatrist Dr Greg Hugh said the standard recommendation is not to drink at all during a pregnancy.

He said women in the early stages of pregnancy were often not aware they were pregnant.

“Maybe if they saw a label it might remind them that they could be pregnant,” Dr Hugh said. “If they’re aware there is a risk it might just get them to modify their behaviour.”

nadine.morton@ruralpress.c