Drinking whilst pregnant – now I like a glass or two of wine and have been listening to the news with interest this week. There is a test case being heard that will decide if drinking to excess and causing alcohol foetal syndrome is a criminal offence and if so it will allow for criminal injuries to be claimed.
It is also suggested that the first three months of a pregnancy are the most critical for foetal development and that this is the time that damage occurs. Considering that many pregnancies are unplanned and a woman could easily not realise she was pregnant until 8 weeks can these women then be blamed and possibly criminalised for drinking?
I don’t know how this could be policed either and I worry that it will make pregnant mums feel guilty if they choose to have an occasional drink. Will this mean that women are policed even more and can you imagine being refused to buy alcohol because you have a bump – is that what it would come to?
I would like to see guidelines that educate both women and men on the effect of alcohol on their unborn child but I don’t think you can criminalise the act. Should mothers to be have the same restrictions placed on them for smoking or eating blue cheese and pate?
I am not belittling the devastating effects of foetal alcohol syndrome as I have seen the effects first hand. As a young graduate I worked in a children’s home with very profoundly disabled children. It was harrowing at times and beautiful at other times. It taught me so much. The cost of looking after those children was immense and yes the local authority were paying the bill so I understand the financial implications. However I still do not feel comfortable with criminalising the act. To drink so much that you cause foetal alcohol syndrome would require the mother to be to be an alcoholic and I believe that is an addiction that requires help rather than prosecution. Will drug addicts also be prosecuted?
If a mother to be has a drink on her birthday or during a family occasion are we running the risk of demonising her too even though that one drink would not be enough to cause any medical issues? Could we get to the point of breathalysing women we suspect of drinking?
More worringly will it stop those mothers to be who do have an issue with alcohol from seeking help. Will they feel so stigmatised that they do not confide in their GP or midwife? Will this encourage more secretive behaviour that means the mother to be is not supported but instead the problem is driven underground?
There are no easy answers and I shall follow the story with interest and see what happens.
16 Responses
I think they could only bring a case if the mother intentionally was drinking to access knowing they were pregnant. The reason they are doing it, is so that they can raise money to look after the child (I think that’s what I’ve read) which seems ridiculous. However, if the women did know she was pregnant, and drank so much it harmed her baby, I find it hard to not say she was entirely to blame. I can imagine this being such a prominent story/case it would be more likely to get women with Alcohol problems to visit their GP for help, knowing they could be prosecuted or harm their baby. However, part of me agree perhaps it would make people more secretive. So many angles to this story!
I think your comments here are very well-balanced. It’s about education and support not prosecution.
I found out I was pregnant with Syd at 18 weeks when I felt him move and had been drinking that whole time – thankfully apart from a New Years Eve binge I had only drank moderately (the joys of already having two kids!) and he was fine.
I dont think prosecution is the right approach – the cases where someone is intentionally drinking to excess to harm their baby are few and far between – it is generally a case of addiction or ignorance, and these are better helped with education and support not threats.
It’s an interesting one. I had a drink a good few times when pregnant but I don’t think it was ever more than one. I also drank what I know know was too much when I was breastfeeding – I think I closed my ears to it all because I didn’t want to be ‘educated’. It’s hard though – of course you should do what is best for the baby, and mothers should be trusted to do that – but then they don’t always do they? Myself included… No answers here but it’s good to get the debate going.
I have only read one article, in the Independent I think it was and it seemed to be only for those women who are heavily drinking, more bordering on the alcohol dependent. I can’t see how they would police it except in the most extreme cases. Will also watch on with interest x
But once a law or test case has passed how hard is it to say you can drink, but you can’t. Alcohol also affects everyone differently and who really knows the tolerance levels of each individual.
Education is the most important thing. Threat of prosecution is really not helpful. It is also worth noting that a disproportionate amount of NHS ‘safe’ guidelines are based on studies over 20 years old and often utterly unreliable. Very little proper research on this has not been done in the last few years despite one study which found that mothers who drank one or two units weekly on average produced children who scored more highly in infant aptitude tests than mothers who drank nothing. Again it was not a HUGE study.
Good point, much research is small scale and outdated by the time it is published.
Ohh that is interesting about the research Jenny. I’ve not seen anything about this in the news. Mich x
Oh its tricky…. as a social worker the rights of an unborn child were a constant feature in our work. They need protecting but yes education always key
yes we have a very similar in Education Becky.
I haven’t read about this at all. It’s tricky isn’t it? How do you distinguish between people who genuinely have a problem and can’t help themselves and those who just don’t care.
It is a really difficult one because of how difficult it would be to actually police and if a law was passed, where would the limit be. Smoking is surely as bad for unborn babies and then there’s the food on the ever changing must avoid list. Where do you draw the line?
Great post x x
oh difficult subject. depends on intention really. drinking constantly and doing it like an addiction should be the motive to blame
I’m going to watch developments with interest too. I didn’t drink a thing with either of mine as I just didn’t see the point of taking the risk. But people need help and education, not judgement with regards to this and smoking when pregnant x
Found your post interesting to read.I’ve not seen anything about this in the news. I cant wait to see your post soon. Good Luck for the upcoming update.This article is really very interesting and effective.We should take care of our unborn babies is harsh and cruel if we drink during pregnancy.