Doctors used to generally only diagnose Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in infants who had certain facial characteristics or other birth defects that were clearly associated with heavy maternal alcohol use in particular stage of pregnancy. However we are learning more and more about the developmental and neurological effects of alcohol use during pregnancy, many of them “unseen”. Now, doctors can take a history and analyse a child’s behaviour and diagnose FASD when certain criteria are met.
There are some children you may have encountered who aren’t connected. To friends or to learning, two very important aspects of childhood. They may have trouble following rules, they may be impulsive, unpredictable, can’t concentrate on their learning in class or on the sports field. It’s easy to judge them as lazy, troublesome, rude.
When they grow into adolescents and then adults, they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law, or themselves using drugs and alcohol to cope with a life that is lacking, unable to find work or fit into society in a meaningful way. Admittedly this is the worse case scenario, but you can see how children with FASD can struggle to live normally when their brain “filing cabinet” is in complete disarray.
This is why the current recommendation from health authorities is that there is no “safe” amount of alcohol for women to drink during pregnancy. Governments – and churches too for that matter – are no stranger to the judgement of women. Judging mothers in particular. But this recommendation is more than a judgemental nanny state looking for its next victim. It’s about the very real teratogenicity of alcohol, the same as we educate women on the dangers of rubella on a foetus.
For some women, alcohol is their only means of medicating feelings of depression and anxiety and many FASD mums will tell their story of regret about this pattern. But we are getting better and better at diagnosing and supporting depressed and anxious mums, and better at educating about the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy. Both very important steps toward turning the tide on FASD.
