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Preventing
Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies
FAS Is a Public
Health Concern
FAS is an permanent, lifelong condition that affects
every aspect of a child’s life and the lives of the child’s family.
However, FAS is completely preventable – if a woman does not drink
alcohol while she is pregnant. Also,
if a woman is planning a pregnancy or is sexually active and not using
effective birth control, she should avoid alcohol consumption because she
may be pregnant and not know for several weeks or more.
Public health concern over
drinking during pregnancy was first signaled in 1981 by the release of a
public health advisory from the Office of the Surgeon General. This
advisory warned women who were pregnant or planning a pregnancy to
abstain from alcohol use because of the potential risks to the fetus. In
2005, the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, issued an updated
Advisory on Alcohol Use in Pregnancy. The Surgeon General's message
advises women not to drink alcohol if they are pregnant, planning to
become pregnant, or at risk of becoming pregnant.
Did
you know?
·
While the overall rate of any alcohol use (at least one
drink) among pregnant women has declined since 1995; frequent (7 or more
drinks per week) and binge (5 or more drinks on any one occasion) drinking
continues to occur.
·
One in 30 women who know they are pregnant reports “risk
drinking” (7 or more drinks per week or 5 or more drinks on any one
occasion). Drinking alcohol at
these levels can pose a serious health threat to the unborn fetus.
·
One in seven women of childbearing age (18 to 44 years of
age) who report not being pregnant engages in "risk drinking.”
This is a concern because a woman may be pregnant and not know it,
while continuing to drink at risk levels.
·
An estimated 130,000 pregnant women per year in the
United States
consume alcohol at levels shown to increase the risk of having a baby with
FAS or other prenatal alcohol-related condition.
CDC supports the following prevention activities:
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