Pregnant moms warned not to take a single drink
AN AWARENESS and prevention programme to educate expectant mothers about the dangers of foetal alcohol syndrome has been launched in Port Elizabeth.
The Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby programme, spearheaded by the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FARR) and supported by the Eastern Cape Liquor Board and South African Breweries, will provide various workshops to pregnant mothers in the area.
Details were provided yesterday at an event to mark Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Awareness Day.
The programme forms part of a three-year research initiative into the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and foetal alcohol syndrome in the Bethelsdorp area.
FARR chief executive Leana Olivier said it was the first study of its kind in the province, although studies had already been conducted in the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and Gauteng.
“Based on our findings in those provinces, the Department of Health has determined that the country’s prevalence rate is around 6%,” Olivier said.
“The country with the next highest prevalence rate is the US, where it is between 1% and 3% – so we have the highest foetal alcohol syndrome rate in the world.”
She said during a study which started in 2013, the organisation had interviewed about 2 000 children between the ages of three and 10 at 14 primary schools.
Children underwent medical and psychological assessments and parents were interviewed extensively.
Olivier said the findings would only be released towards the end of next year after affected parents and children had been consulted and assisted with counselling.
Teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers would also be trained on how to pick up FAS.
She said alcohol consumed during pregnancy was like a poison affecting the unborn baby and led to the baby’s brain not developing properly.
All children born with FAS were essentially brain damaged and it was an untreatable condition.
“We will also be assisting pregnant women who have problems with diabetes, high or low blood pressure, hypertension, weight issues or who are victims of domestic violence,” Olivier said.
The programme would also assist with therapy sessions, stimulation groups and home visits after the babies were born.
Leading specialist Professor Dennis Viljoen would also provide free medical assessments for the babies at the age of nine months.
Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Sakhumzi Somyo told a packed hall at the Chatty Community Centre that about R8-billion was spent on alcohol in the province. Of that, 28% was spent in Nelson Mandela Bay and 17% in Buffalo City.
“We do not want to see people consuming alcohol when they are carrying our future,” Somyo said.
Municipal political head of economic development Zukile Jodwana said: “We want to educate mothers that no amount of alcohol is safe.”
Eastern Cape Liquor Board chief executive KC Maneli said: “Each year thousands of babies are born with lifelong disabilities because they were exposed to alcohol prenatally.
“If you are pregnant it is safest not to drink any alcohol,” he said.
SAB strategy executive director Bernice Samuels said because the country had one of the highest reported FAS rates in the world, the company was committed to supporting and funding the research.
“Our message to pregnant women is not a sip, not a glass.
“Our aim is to make consumers aware of the risks involved,” Samuels said.