Children facing new checks for alcohol damage

Spotlight on mothers’ drinking habits

ALL Scots children diagnosed with developmental problems are to be screened for possible brain damage caused by their mothers drinking alcohol while pregnant.

New guidelines are being drawn up to tackle foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) following claims that at least 2,500 children are born annually in Scotland with the condition.

There are fears youngsters who are actually victims of the country’s drink epidemic are being misdiagnosed with autism or behavioural problems instead.

FASD is a series of birth defects caused by a woman drinking during pregnancy, including the early stages before she knows she is expecting.

These include problems with speech and language, hyperactivity, sleep and behaviour.

Scottish guidelines for health visitors and doctors are being drawn up on early diagnosis and support for children with the condition and are expected to be published next year.

Women are currently advised to avoid alcohol if they are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant.

But recent research has shown that up to 40 per cent of British women drink during pregnancy, and more than half of expectant mothers are binge drinkers around the time they become pregnant.

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), which sets national NHS guidelines, is now developing guidance on ‘early diagnosis and support’ for children from birth. A report for SIGN by edinburghbased paediatrician Dr Patricia D Jackson, states: ‘Alcohol consumption in women of child bearing age, especially younger women most at risk of unplanned pregnancies, has increased rapidly in recent years. Foetal damage due to alcohol use in pregnancy has the potential to be of major concern in Scotland.

‘Paediatric clinical experience indicates that, in Scotland, more babies are harmed each year by alcohol than were ever harmed by thalidomide. In Scotland we are failing to identify correctly and therefore adequately support these children. Children are often diagnosed as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or autistic spectrum disorder, or other neuro-developmental and behavioural disorders, and the role of alcohol fails to be recognised.’

experts estimate at least 2,500 children are born with the condition every year in Scotland. A trial of the scheme is under way in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

A spokesman for SIGN, said: ‘We have identified the need for a guideline on diagnosis of FASD and are developing this with assistance from experts across Scotland.’

Lynne McNiven, of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said additional support provided by the scheme ‘helps to ensure children affected by alcohol in the womb achieve their full potential’.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government has funded NHS Ayrshire and Arran to test new ways to diagnose and support children and families affected by FASD.

‘We will consider (the pilot) to see whether any of it can be adopted to address FASD more widely across Scotland.’

‘Failing to identify it correctly’