The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Network Sudbury/Manitoulin had a specific goal in mind on the ninth day of the ninth month this year. They wanted to get out the message, that during the nine months of pregnancy, no amount of alcohol is the right amount of alcohol.
The network hosted their seventh annual mocktail party recently
at the Jubilee Heritage Family Resources Centre recently in an
effort to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking during
pregnancy.
The mocktail party offered the community an opportunity to
learn more about the disorder while enjoying some non-alcoholic
cocktails.
"Many women of childbearing age don't realize there is no safe
amount of alcohol and no safe time to drink during pregnancy,"
said Mélanie Boulais, a public health nurse with the Sudbury
and District Health Unit, in a press release.
"If alcohol is consumed during pregnancy, it can cause damage
to the unborn baby."
FASD is a term that describes a range of disabilities that may
affect people whose mothers drank alcohol while they were
pregnant, according to literature provided by the health
unit.
Some risks to the baby include, brain damage, vision and
hearing difficulties, bones, limbs and fingers that are not
properly formed, heart, kidney, liver and other organ damage
and slow growth.
It is a life-long condition for which there is no known cure. A
child with FASD becomes an adult with FASD.
Some researchers estimate that each individual with FASD costs
society approximately $2 million in his or her lifetime, for
health problems, special education, psychotherapy and
counselling, welfare, crime and the criminal justice
system.
Health Canada estimates approximately one percent of Canadians
has some form of FASD, which is one in every one hundred
births, according to Brenda Stankiewicz, a public health nurse
with the Sudbury Distict Health Unit.
"It takes a community to prevent FASD," she said, explaining
that pregnant women need the support of their partners and the
entire community to avoid alcohol during pregnancy.
For more information, contact the FASD Network
Sudbury/Manitoulin at 677-0440 or the Sudbury and District
Health Unit's Family Health Team at (705)522-9200, ext. 427 or
by email at [email protected].
