One third of pregnant women secretly drink alcohol, survey finds

But one in 10 mothers-to-be believe that drinking doesn't do as much damage as experts claim, according to the survey by baby charity Tommy's.
A total of 1,300 women were questioned for the survey.

The survey also found that one in 10 women did not know how much a unit of alcohol is.

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Obstetrik, ny lärobok

Den nya läroboken är resultatet av ett unikt samarbete mellan ett stort antal specialkunniga läkare och barnmorskor inom svensk obstetrik. Boken vänder sig till läkarstuderande på grundutbildningen samt till läkare och barnmorskor som är verksamma inom såväl öppen som sluten vård. Den kan även användas som fördjupnings- och referensbok.
Kapitlet Drogmissbruk under graviditet bahandlas av Mona Göransson och Ihsan Sarman.
På bokens webbplats kan du som lärare ladda ner bokens illustrationer som PowerPoint-presentation på Studentlitteraturs hemsida. Länkar till presentationerna kan också fås via mail från FAS-föreningen. Kontakta FAS@telia.com
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Alarming Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Exposure in a Mediterranean City

In conclusion, the preliminary results of this study, which highlights a 45% ethanol consumption during pregnancy in a low socioeconomic status cohort from a Mediterranean city, may serve as an eye opener for Europeans that gestational ethanol exposure is endemic not only in areas outside of Europe.

Of critical importance, alcohol consumption by pregnant women in Mediterranean countries may be different from that of North European regions: daily consumption of mainly wine and beer during principal meals is a common pattern. In agreement with this, approximately 50% of Spanish women declared daily ethanol consumption in the most recent Spanish National Survey on Drug abuse.13 In this context, early postnatal diagnosis of fetal exposure to maternal alcohol by meconium analysis of FAEEs should be advocated for all newborns because age at diagnosis is a prognostic factor for FASD, and evidence of maternal drinking is a critical
prerequisite.

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Verbal and Visuospatial Learning and Memory Function in Children With Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Prenatal alcohol exposure during the first trimester predicted deficits in learning, short-term memory, and long-term memory, specifically in the verbal domain. Deficits in performance were specific to learning and memory of word-pairs. In addition, deficits in memory were mediated by learning performance.

Results demonstrated that prenatal alcohol exposure lead to deficits in encoding processes as indicated by deficits in verbal learning. Initial deficits in acquisition were responsible for deficits in immediate and delayed recall of verbal information in children who were exposed to alcohol during pregnancy but did not have fetal alcohol syndrome.

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Fetal alcohol syndrome prevention in Washington State:

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine whether the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome among children in a foster care population, born between 1993 and 1998, decreased with the documented decrease in prevalence of maternal use of alcohol during pregnancy from 1993 and 1998 in Washington State. The prevalence of maternal drinking during pregnancy in Washington State declined significantly (0.001) from 1993 to 1998 as did the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome among foster children born 1993–98 (0.03). These observations support the likelihood that fetal alcohol syndrome prevention efforts in Washington State are working successfully.

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Binge Drinking During Pregnancy as a Predictor ofPsychiatric Disorders on the Structured Clinical Interviewfor DSM-IV in Young Adult Offspring

The odds of the appearance of six psychiatric disorders and traits were more than double in adults exposed to one or more binge alcohol episodes in utero. Three of these six odds ratios were uniformly stable against confounding: axis I substance dependence or abuse disorders and axis II passive-aggressive and antisocial personality disorders or traits. Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to alcohol may be a risk factor for specific psychiatric disorders and traits in early adulthood, even in a nonclinical group

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Eurocare holds successful Evening Reception on Alcohol and Pregnancy in European Parliament

Over 50 people attended the Eurocare Evening Reception in the European Parliament, marking ”International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Day” on Tuesday 9th September 2008.

Hosted by MEPs Ms Mairead McGuinness (EPP, IE) and Ms Catherine Stihler (PSE, UK), the reception was attended by a number of MEPs including Jules Maaten (ALDE, NL), Glenis Willmott (PSE, UK), Mary Lou McDonald (GUE, IE) among others.
The reception was also attended by a number of Eurocare member organisations as well as representatives of NGOs supporting the Eurocare "Alcohol and Pregnancy" campaign (European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), Confederation of Family Organisations (COFACE), Mental Health Europe, and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME).
The reception was a unique opportunity to learn more about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and discuss the different policy options to curb its incidence, notably, the labelling of alcoholic beverages.

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