Keep your baby safe from harm

Page 11

Alberta social services announced it is funding 18 new community projects across the province to address prevention and education about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Each project will receive $10,000 and is part of the $1 million the ministry has earmarked to deal with FAS.

The condition of FAS is a combination of alcohol related birth defects that show up in a child if a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. A child with FAS will exhibit certain definite characteristics. They include a thin upper lip, flattened mid-face, smaller eye slits and a long mid-face. Other defects that are likely to show up on a child with FAS are deformed ears or ear and eye problems.

The physical deformities associated with FAS aren't the only problem a child who is afflicted with the disorder will experience. In a recent report written by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission on FAS, it is the behavior of these children that is most damaging over the long term.

The report indicates that the adolescents and adults who are affected by the disorder can fail to adapt to the demands of society. Some of the problems identified by the report are with personal boundaries, sustaining relationships, emotional development and poor organizational skills.

While a person with FAS might have the physical defects that can be identified, those with Alcohol-Related Birth Defects suffer only from the emotional problems. The ADDAC report points out that while people with ARBD have all the behavioral problems of those affected with FAS, they may never be diagnosed and receive proper treatment.

Researchers believe there is no safe level of alcohol that a pregnant mother can drink. Those women who do consume alcohol during pregnancy are opening themselves up to different factors based on their metabolism and the biological makeup of the fetus. Different types of birth defects might happen during the different stages of development.

At the Bissell Centre in Edmonton, one of the organizations that has been funded, the development of a pilot program is underway. The program is aimed at women who are considered to be at higher risk of having a FAS child.

"If a woman had one FAS child, the likelihood of having another is about 77 per cent," said Scott Smiley, community services manager for the Bissell Centre. He believes the best way to prevent FAS is to focus on women who have already had one FAS birth.

Smiley believes women who are at risk of having an FAS baby are left with little or no options. Intervention becomes evidenced by the highly controversial recently reported arrests of women who were using drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, said Smiley. An option that should be more available to women at risk is access to treatment for addictions.

"A lot of these women have children who they can't leave to go to treatment," said Smiley. Treatment centres need to recognize families and not separate them, he said.

The inner city centre sees about 65 per cent of their services going to Aboriginal people. Smiley indicated FAS happens about one per 3,000 live births in North America. For Aboriginal people the figure goes up to about eight per 3,000 live births.

The Bissell Centre program is under development and plans are in place to find other funding to get the program underway. Smiley hopes to hear from the other sources by the New Year and is confident the pilot program will start soon after.