The latest medical research shows there is no safe limit for drinking when pregnant. All it takes is a few drinks at the wrong stage of the pregnancy for the mother’s unborn baby to suffer permanent brain damage. And it’s possible that Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the leading non-genetic developmental disability in Australia.
This week in the Babytalk podcast you’ll meet Professor Elizabeth Elliott a distinguished professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney. She was one of the authors of the alcohol guidelines, updated in 2009 to recommend that women who are pregnant or planning for a baby should not drink alcohol. She also helped develop Australia’s first diagnostic tool for FASD in 2016.
You will also meet Sophie a mother who drank within the medical guidelines at the time during her pregnancy. Her eldest child has recently been diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Both women speak passionately about their hope that mothers will know what the risks are before they consider drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
Resources and links to the websites mentioned in this podcast can be found below.