Help Prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects

• FAS and FAE are caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
• It's ENTIRELY preventable!
• Its permanent and irreversible - YES! The effects last a lifetime! No cure - no treatment just a lifetime of pain for both the child and the family.
• FAS and FAE impairs a child's lifetime ability to function mentally, physically and socially.
• Effects can range from severe - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)
• Reasoning, judgment and self control is severely impaired and may result in crime, delinquency and other anti-social behavior.
• It effects children of all socio-economic levels - this is not just a poor person's problem and it is not restricted to any particular culture. The incidence is high.

Children born with FAS or FAE have an impact on all members of society. Not only does the individual effected face a lifetime of pain, frustration and disappointment, the impact on all levels society cannot be ignored.

What You Can Do… Yes! You.

If you are pregnant or are attempting to get pregnant please don't drink. If you just found out you are pregnant and consumed alcohol during this time - DON'T PANIC! Talk to your medical professional. Recent research has found that small quantities of alcohol during the first semester did not produce serious problems. However, the safest course is to NOT DRINK if you plan to get pregnant,and to stop drinking as soon as you learn of your pregnancy. Your baby deserves the very best start at life that you can give him or her.

If you know of someone who is pregnant and is consuming alcohol advise them of the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy or print this page and give it to them.

Take Action:

1. Write to or lobby your politicians on a local, provincial and national basis. Use our letter template to get this effort started. Insist that the same amount of emphasis must be placed on FAS as has been placed on the drinking and driving campaigns. A portion of liquor tax revenue must be put into education and prevention programs.
2. Write to or lobby the major liquor companies and encourage them to fund education, research and prevention programs. Use our letter template to get this effort started. Beer and liquor companies fund responsible drinking campaigns but they should be allocating significant dollars to educating women about the dangers of alcohol to the unborn child. Also mandatory labels should be placed on all alcoholic beverages sold in Canada. Remind your politicians that FAS and FAE does far more then effect the one unfortunate child born with the condition. The effect is on all levels of society. In harsh dollar and cent terms - we all pay for these effects eventually.
3. Start a letter writing or e-mail campaign. Organize your community group, church members, school to start a letter writing campaign to politicians and corporate heads to start addressing this problem and start funding education and prevention programs. Use our letter template to get this effort started.
4. Join a membership group such as Clean-Water and become part of a worldwide effort to prevent FAS. If we all play a role, we CAN make a difference.
5. If you are doing research or are looking for addtional information on this topic, please click through the links below.

Links to Helpful Sites on this Topic

Information, Organizations & Support

• Inspirational site created by the mother of a 4 1/2 year old precious little boy who has FAS. 

• FAS Community Resource Center in Tucson, Arizona. This site is complete with pictures and stories. They have produced a new video on FAS, designed primarily for teens, but educational and entertaining for any age group. Info on this video can be found at their web site.

• Support site dealing with FAS/FAE. This site is dedicated to the education and support of FAS/FAE, particularly  in the state of Florida, but with Links to other Federal and State organizations. The intended users are parents, educators, and organizations who deal with FAS/FAE children, or anyone who cares enough to get involved.

• Group of Moms who provide post adoptive support to families who have adopted children who have been prenatally exposed to drugs/alcohol. Website is at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/4786

• The Mining Company Resources on Alcoholism: http://alcoholism.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa070997.htm

• Clean Water International is a world wide group of people who have pledged to fight fetal alcohol syndrome http://www.shadeslanding.com/clean-water

• Internet Resources for Special Children (IRSC) http://www.irsc.org Site dedicated to communicating information relating to the needs of children with disABILITIES on a global Basis.

• Brief Overview of FAS and Effects: http://members.aol.com/creaconinc/fas.html

• Facts About FAS & FAE: Dept of Medical Genetics, Shodair Hospital MT http://members.aol.com/jshawdna/fas2.htm

• The Arc's FAS Resource and Materials Guide. Comprehensive site of good information and dozens of links. http://TheArc.org/misc/faslist.html#research..radiology.uiowa.edu/Providers/Publicatoins/MMWR/04.07.95/four.html

• FAS/E Information Home Page: http://www.kumc.edu/GEC/wwwgene/fashome.html

• Lifeline: Burlington County Times A plain-english examination of alcohol's effects on the mother and the unborn child.

• Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse: http://www.ccsa.ca/default.htm

• CMA Policy Summary: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: http://hpb1.hwc.ca:8400/canmed/policy/fetale.htm

Newsletters

• Manitoba F.A.S Newsletter: http://www.ccsa.ca/fasnews.htm

• FAS/E Nation - Newsletter for Parents & Professionals: http://www.ccsa.ca/fasenatn.htm

Education

• Alcohol, the Fetus and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: An education misdirected?
  A college paper by Kirk Van-Beer

• Teaching the Student with FAS/FAE : http://www.educ.gov.bc.ca/specialed/fas/contents.htm

• Book: Recognizing and Managing Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol Effects: A Guidebook. Author: Brenda McCreight. Cost: $16.95. Available from
  CWLA, c/o CSSC, 130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818-7816 when ordering ask for stock # 607-0. Tel: (800) 407-6273. Web site for the Child Welfare League of America, Inc., is http://www.cwla.org

• Film: The National Film Board of Canada has produced a video entitled "David with FAS" The video costs $26.95, which includes public performance rights. For more information, call the NFB toll free at 1-800-267-7710 and request a copy of ZOOM IN, their free semi-annual newsletter of new videos. Or visit the NFB website and browse the 9000+ collection by title, subject, director, etc.

Research Sites

• At East Tennessee State University, Todd Scarbrough, Uta Schambra, and Mike Woodruff have done FAS research using mice in order to study the behavioral and teratological effects of ethanol in exposed offspring. Mice whose mothers received varying doses of alcohol on gestational day 8 showed similar behavioral deficits and vacuolized, hypocellular brains.

• http://kpt1.tricon.net/Personal/todd/fas/fas.html

• Methyl Etyl Ketone, Fetal Neurotoxity, Microencephaly and Mental Retardation: http://seamless.com/alexanderlaw/txt/article/utero.shtml

Domain Hosting | FREE Report Library

| Hosted by Incor Enterprises Inc |