Australian Medical Association highlights dangers of alcohol during pregnancy

Sep 6 2005

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said recently that the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) should revise its guidelines on alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The AMA made a similar call on the NHMRC just before Christmas last year.

Dr Haikerwal appealed again to the NHMRC this morning as the Salvation Army launched its Alcohol Awareness Campaign, which highlights the risks for unborn children caused when mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy.

Dr Haikerwal said there is compelling international evidence that mothers who drink even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy could unwittingly harm their unborn children.

“The current NHMRC guidelines do not recommend women in Australia give up alcohol during pregnancy, while the US since 1989 has recommended no alcohol at all during pregnancy,” Dr Haikerwal said.

“The US also has health warning labels on alcohol packaging about drinking during pregnancy, and France will probably introduce similar warnings,” Dr Haikerwal said.

Thirty years ago, scientists linked prenatal alcohol exposure with a pattern of birth defects, which became known as foetal alcohol syndrome. It includes central nervous system problems, low birth weight, mental retardation and abnormal facial features. Children with foetal alcohol syndrome may have physical disabilities and problems with learning, memory, attention, problem solving, and social and behavioural problems.

Foetal alcohol syndrome has been found in babies born to mothers who drink four to five drinks a day, or who go on binges of extreme alcohol consumption. The risks increase with the amount of alcohol consumed. Further research has shown that the effects of alcohol exposure vary widely. Some babies seem to escape harm, even when their mothers drink heavily, while others are severely damaged due to the effects of even small amounts of alcohol.

It’s been shown that possibly just one and a half drinks a week is enough to cause harm. The effect of these low levels of alcohol may be very subtle, with slightly lower IQ or poorer motor skills than normal. Because alcohol affects so many sites in the brain, researchers believe that alcohol is far worse for the developing foetus than any other abused drug.

Dr Haikerwal said Australia is lagging in its response to foetal alcohol syndrome.

“The current Australian guidelines on drinking during pregnancy are not strong enough, and can mislead women to think it’s safe to consume alcohol during pregnancy when it clearly is not,” Dr Haikerwal said.

“We need the NHMRC to change its guidelines and the community must be educated about the very real dangers to unborn babies of mothers drinking any alcohol during pregnancy.”