Drinking when pregnant message ‘mixed’

 As campaigners call for clearer advice on alcohol when pregnant, a legal test case could soon decide if children affected by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) should be compensated as victims of crime.

The case is set to decide if a child born with serious disabilities resulting from FAS, caused by her mother’s heavy drinking, is entitles to a payout from the Government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, as reported by the BBC.

Currently the NHS recommends that women who are pregnant or trying to conceive should avoid alcohol altogether, but adds that should a mother choose to drink they should not exceed more than one or two units once of twice a week and “should not get drunk”.

There is currently no evidence to suggest that very small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy is harmful.

The conflicting advice amounts to a “mixed-message”, according to the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Network, which supports families affected by the disorder which covers a range of neurological, physical and behavioural impairments caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb.

Maria Catterick, FASD Network’s founder, said: “We are told that alcohol is a poison on the one hand, but on the other hand we are told that maybe it’s OK to drink one or two units.”

In September, 12 directors of public health in the North East of England wrote an open letter complaining about “mixed messages about how much alcohol is ‘safe’ during pregnancy” and that it should be made clear to parents that “alcohol and pregnancy don’t mix”.

The safest option, they said, was to avoid alcohol altogether – a message which should be communicated to expectant mothers from conception to birth by all healthcare professionals.

The case, due to be heard in the UK’s Court of Appeal later this month, will decide it a seven-year-old with FAS, now in local authority care, is entitled to a payout from the government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Its outcome could set a precedent potentially criminalising women for drinking while pregnant, a tag some campaigners could cause further damage, and inviting further compensation claims from thousands of children affected by FAS.

Catterick said: “I don’t believe at all it is worth going down this route to criminalise women. Most women would never drink alcohol, knowingly harming their baby. The messages have been totally unclear.”

Thousands of children are estimated to be born each year in the UK with serious health defects caused by alcohol.