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FAQ's
What are the Characteristics of Women Giving Birth
to Children with FASD?
When asking this question, the issue we
are really trying to understand
is “how can we better identify high-risk women
and prevent all fetal alcohol
spectrum disorders?” Because prevention of FASD
is our most important
priority, it is vital that we have as much information
as possible to
give us the tools to intervene and support high-risk
women with a thoughtful,
well planned approach.
During the past five years much research
has been done to look at the
characteristics of women giving birth to children with
fetal alcohol spectrum
disorders, as well as the overall drinking patterns among
women of
childbearing age. It is important to remember that drinking
of alcohol
among all women who have the potential to become pregnant
is an issue
we need to focus on in terms of primary prevention. In
a recently released
report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC),
they found that:
“ During 1991–1995, alcohol use by pregnant women
increased
substantially, and alcohol use by nonpregnant women
of childbearing
age increased slightly. Since 1995 the rate of an any
alcohol
use during pregnancy (at least one drink) has declined.
However,
rates of binge drinking (more than 5 drinks on any
one occasion)
and frequent drinking (more than 7 drinks per week)
during pregnancy have not declined, and these rates
also have
not declined
among nonpregnant women of childbearing age.”
“Alcohol
Use Among Women of Childbearing Age—United States,
1991– 1999,”
MMWR, April 12, 2002
Additional information in this report,
which Alaska data also corroborates,
is the fact that pregnant women who are unmarried
and older (30
years and older) tend to have the highest rates of alcohol
use. In the CDC
report, binge drinking and frequent drinking during pregnancy
were more
common in women aged 30-44 years, but among nonpregnant
women,
these drinking patterns were more likely to occur among
women under
30 years of age. In addition, it finds that heavy alcohol
use before pregnancy,
especially among older women, is a clear indicator that
drinking
will continue during pregnancy.
Data collected by the Alaska FASD Surveillance Project provides a similar
picture of the mothers of children with FASD who have
been reported to
the Alaska Birth Defects Registry. For mothers with children
born in 1995-
1998, whose children were identified as prenatally exposed
to alcohol,
most (over 60%) were 30-39 years old at the time of the
identified birth.
These mothers were generally single, had an average of
2.8 prior births,
over 75% smoked tobacco and at least 20% had received
alcohol treatment
at some point during their lifetime. It is also important
to know that
15% did not receive any prenatal care during the pregnancy
and when
prenatal care did occur it usually began in the second
trimester.
In a study led by Dr. Susan Astley,
University of Washington, results
show a number of commonalities with what we have already
seen
regarding age, prior births, past drinking history, etc.
What this report
also shows is the mental health profile of the women
in their study, as well
as the adverse experiences these women had during their
lifetime.
“Ninety-six per cent had one
to 10 mental health disorders with
the most prevalent being post-traumatic stress disorder
(77%)
and simple phobia (44%).” In addition, 98.8%
reported being
emotionally abused as a child and 95% reported being
sexually
and/or physically abused at some time during their
life. “Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome (FASD) Primary Prevention Through FASD Diagnosis:
II. A Comprehensive Profile of 80 Birth Mothers of
Children with FASD .”
Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 509–519,
2000.
Preventing
prenatal exposure to alcohol is one of our state’s top priorities. Having as much research-based and anecdotal information
as possible
to help us more clearly understand the barriers and struggles
that
women face, will provide us with the knowledge we need
to develop better
and more effective intervention and prevention strategies
for our
state.
Posted Winter 2003