A wealth of research shows that women are increasingly indulging in drugs and binge drinking and are subsequently catching up with their male counterparts in terms of consumption.Some of these women are expectant mothers who are thereby endangering their unborn babies.Sadly many of these women are young mothers whose drinking habits are placing their unborn children at risk.
According to an Aussie study conducted earlier this year women that have been hospitalised with mental or behavioural disorders related to drug or alcohol consumption are up to 4 times more likely to have a baby with a low-birth weight.
Now the NT are planning on educating young women on the damage drinking while pregnant can do to unborn children.
The program was announced by Northern Territory Minister for Education, Peter Chandler during a visit to Centralian Senior College in Alice Springs.
The program in addition to addressing prevention of further cases will also aim to support children already affected in their social and learning development which they often battle with because of the disorder.
Below are the details of the program as reported on Healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au:
Northern Territory Minister for Education, Peter Chandler, has announced the development of programs that will educate students about the problems of Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and support affected children.
‘While there are already significant resources in schools to assist with education about alcohol these programs will focus on the disorder. New educational programs will address the consumption of alcohol in pregnancy as a way to prevent further cases. The Department of Education and Children’s Services will work with non-government organisations to deliver programs to middle and senior school students on the consequences of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.’
‘An educational psychologist will be employed to work with schools on programs to support children affected by the disorder,’ Mr Chandler said during a visit to Centralian Senior College in Alice Springs.
Member for Stuart, Bess Price, who also visited Centralian Senior College, said FASD, which has lifelong complications for children, is preventable by avoiding the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
‘School programs are unable to reverse these problems but can do a lot to support children in their social and learning development.’
Read more at: http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/about/news/1265
Don’t know how much alcohol you can safely consume while pregnant? Well doctors suggest abstaining completely while pregnant.Experts say that because science has not provided information on what is the amount of alcohol that causes damage to the foetus, its best that expectant mothers abstain completely. Even once the baby is born, the mother should not be drinking alcohol if breastfeeding because the harm this can do has not yet been discovered fully.
Evidence has shown that mothers who fail to abstain during pregnancy are placing their children at risk of developing learning disabilities, poor attention spans, judgement and social skills impairments, behavioural and mental health problems such as heart defects and may increase the risk of miscarrying.