Alcohol and pregnancy don't mix. Healthy mothers and babies need everyone's support.
These words are at the heart of an annual Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD) awareness campaign featured in BC Liquor Stores this September - FASD Prevention and Support Month.
This month, FASD awareness materials -posters, counter decals and brochures -are featured in all 197 BC Liquor Stores across the province. Informational posters featuring a pregnant woman and her partner are displayed in the checkout lanes, and signs are featured throughout each store.
The BC Liquor Distribution Branch teamed up with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Ministry of Health, BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, and the Public Health Agency of Canada to produce the brochure, Alcohol & Pregnancy Don't Mix. Brochures are available year-round in BC Liquor Stores, and are also widely distributed to parent support agencies and other health and women's organizations throughout B.C.
The 2011 FASD awareness materials can be downloaded and used by any organization or business with an interest in prevention and spreading awareness of the impacts of FASD on children and families.
Friday, Sept. 9 was FASD Prevention and Support Day. Each year, on the ninth day of the ninth month, people in British Columbia and around the world mark the day by launching awareness campaigns and holding community events to help raise awareness about the dangers of drinking while pregnant. The day was chosen to symbolize the nine months of pregnancy.
"We are committed to raising the profile of FASD and the harmful and lifelong impacts it has, and that's why we are launching this educational campaign to help spread the word about the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant," said Mary McNeil, Minister of Children and Family Development. "We also hope that it will encourage families, friends, and partners to be supportive of a woman's healthy pregnancy."
In Canada, it's estimated approximately nine in every 1,000 infants are born with FASD.
FASD is a term that describes the range of effects that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects can include physical, mental, behavioural and/or learning disabilities with lifelong implications.
Children born with FASD may have a wide range of challenges including problems with memory, reasoning, attention and problem-solving and heart, vision and hearing problems.
For the provincial outreach program for FASD, go to: www.fasdoutreach.ca/.
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