9 Months Make All the Difference:
Honor Fetal Alcohol Awareness Day
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Here is something that most people don’t know.

If a woman avoids alcohol for the entire nine months of pregnancy, she has prevented the leading known cause of mental retardation in the United States: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Many women stop drinking as soon as they find out they are pregnant, but alcohol can affect an unborn baby even before a woman knows she’s pregnant.
The developing brain is highly vulnerable to the poisonous effects of alcohol at every stage of pregnancy -- even the last trimester.

That is why Kentucky will be joining the world in recognizing International FASD Awareness Day on 09/09/09.

More than 39,000 Kentucky citizens are affected by FASD.

Babies with FASD grow into adults with FASD, which means that many families face a lifelong struggle to help their loved ones find supportive education, housing and social networks.

All of these families have their own story to tell. People in our community today are living with the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, a disability that is 100% preventable.

There are a few simple things you can do:

> Make sure that all your friends, family, teenagers and colleagues know that there is no safe time, no safe type and no safe amount of alcohol if a woman is pregnant or could become pregnant.

> Make sure that your local physicians know that you support them in giving a clear No-Alcohol message to pregnant women in your community. (Note: Volunteers in every county in Kentucky are distributing information packets to each OB-GYN in the state as part of 9-9-09 FASD awareness. Ask yours about it!)

> Learn everything that you can about this issue, and be an advocate for women, children and families.

Info: Kentucky’s FASD Prevention Enhancement Site at 859-624-3622 or Lmnagle@bluegrass.org.

Donna Wiesenhahn
Regional Prevention Director
Bluegrass Regional MHMR Board, Inc.