Shock surge in alcohol intake by mums-to-be
From:The Irish Independent
Sunday, 16th April, 2006
LARA BRADLEY
EXCLUSIVE
IRISH women are drinking more than ever during their pregnancies, in a trend described as "extremely concerning" by authors of a ground-breaking new study for the Government.
Researchers charted the smoking and drinking habits of 100,000 pregnant women over an 18-year period and found a shocking surge in the quantities of alcohol drunk by expectant mothers.
The report was presented to the Department of Health on Friday and is expected to form the cornerstone of future policy in this area.
The database of the Coombe Women's Hospital was used to collate details of the tobacco and alcohol intake of pregnant women attending there for antenatal care between 1987 and 2005.
The long-anticipated results are expected to show a huge differential in the amount of alcohol consumed by native Irish mothers-to-be compared to pregnant women who have immigrated into the country. Pregnant Irish women drink a lot more.
The study will state that 82 per cent of expectant women in Ireland drink at some stage during their pregnancy compared to 22 per cent of women in America. While the numbers of alcoholic women drinking during pregnancy has not changed much in the past 18 years, the number of non-alcoholic women drinking during pregnancy and the amount they are drinking has shot up.
A breakdown of the drinking habits of pregnant women by age reveals very different patterns of alcohol consumption between younger and older mothers-to-be.
Psychiatrist Dr Siobhan Barry, who led the study, refused to reveal details but described the findings as "stark" and "extremely concerning". The study will be published by the Department of Health in the coming weeks.
Foetal Alcohol Support Ireland last night called on the Government to launch a campaign to ensure that drinking becomes as socially unacceptable during pregnancy as smoking.
Spokeswoman Michelle Savage said: "Public education about the harm caused by smoking has been very successful, but the Government has been passive about getting across the message not to drink during pregnancy."
Dr Barry joined calls for urgent Government action. She said: "There needs to be a very concerted public health message arising from this. The message cannot be ambiguous and it needs to be multifaceted. It needs to be seen in all sorts of places and it has to be the most cautious advice. The advice to women needs to be to take no alcohol during pregnancy."
An estimated 600 babies are born in Ireland every year suffering from Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) - a condition easily identified by the children's distinctive facial features and obvious intellectual disabilities, but recent international research has found even moderate levels of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can lead to lower levels of irreversible mental retardation.
Dr Barry says many more children are born each year suffering from Alcohol-Related Neuro Developmental Disorders. These disorders often remain undiagnosed for many years, but manifest in impulsivity, hyperactivity, behavioural problems and a tendency towards substance abuse and criminality in later life.
She said: "FAS is at the most severe end of the spectrum. The problem is a lot more insidious and widespread than that. It is widely reckoned that the phenomenal growth in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may be linked to exposure to alcohol in the uterus."
Pregnant women will do everything possible for their unborn child, but research in the Nineties showed that, while most were aware of thedangers of smoking while pregnant, very few admitted knowing that alcohol isharmful.
"We won't reap what we sow until many years down the line. The greater the number of women who drink during pregnancy the greater the number of children at risk of Alcohol-Related Neuro Developmental Disorders.
Foetal Alcohol Support Ireland also called for legislation to force alcohol producers to put warnings on their products similar to those on cigarette packets.
Ms Savage said: "In America there are warnings on bottles of alcohol and at point of sale, but in Ireland we have three and a half times as many women drinking during pregnancy and we have no warnings. We are hugely at risk.
"We could be looking at 1,800 babies born each year with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders that are just notbeing recognised."