“No amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy.” This quote from Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FARR) CEO Leana Olivier was enough to jolt our collective attention from the reading material just handed to us. “Us” in this case being five (very articulate, by the way) ladies from Lebona Trust; a Grahamstown-based NPO, Estelle Jacobs; principal of the Hantam Culinary School and, quietly minding his own business in a corner somewhere – the ever-intrusive eParkeni newshound.
Horrific stuff! the wide eyes and slunken jaws seemed to quietly murmur. Should unnerve every pregnant woman who thinks she might get away with it by telling herself, “agh, it’s just one drink,” right? Yes, ’cause it doesn’t quite work that way. That doesn’t mean to imply that every drinking mother will automatically deliver a child with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, but are you willing to tempt fate? Also, the medical literature suggests that it’s simply a matter of prenatal alcohol exposure, not even addiction that could cause this syndrome in a child. The grim takeaway is that you don’t even need to be a long-term user of alcohol to risk your child developing FASD.
We haven’t even scratched the surface to bring to the fore the myriad adverse complications an expecting mother’s drinking can have on her unborn child. Also, what the drinking mother is often oblivious to is that she does not do so at her own peril but that of the innocent unborn baby growing inside her. Chances are hers might not turn out to be quite the bundle of joy she sees happily giggling unencumbered on those jingly nappies ads.
The symptoms are severe. Often lifelong. And can significantly reduce the chances of an otherwise capable child from leading a normal and productive life. As much as 75 percent of people with FASD usually have average or above intellectual abilities. It is only when it comes to executive skills, social communication and adaptive skills that they battle with. But before we go that far, it ought to be borne in mind that it all often starts immediately after birth.
That crying, for one. Of course all babies cry, needless to say the reasons are manifold but sometimes it’s because it was hard for the mother to put away the tipple for the nine months of her pregnancy. (But we are not here to be throwing the first stones, though). Only to bring your attention to a very serious problem that affects a large part of the country, particularly our Northern Cape province. In 2018 Statistics South Africa’s Demographic and Health Survey had grim news when it found that at least 6% of women in the province have a drinking problem and that 10 percent of them are more likely to binge drink, both figures at least double the national average.
According to FARR, their studies clearly demonstrate that our FASD levels are among the highest in the world. The Department of Health also agrees, placing the country’s FASD prevalence at around 6 percent with the next highest, namely the United States, standing only at one percent according to an article on The Star.
What was picked up by one lady from the Lebone Trust was how these studies only covered four provinces, likely meaning these are conservative estimates and the problem could be a lot greater than we’re led to believe. Add to this the fact that determining “a case of FAS requires a great deal of clinical skill and experience…Researchers that currently do surveillance are highly skilled and trained” it would not be amiss to conclude that a lot of FAS cases simply go undocumented particularly in rural communities where these experts might not be easily accessible.
Our eyes back on the aforesaid reading material now, and in no particular order, let’s go through some of FASD symptoms..
As early as “16 days after conception, your fetus’s neural plate forms…the foundation of your baby’s brain and spinal cord.” This should throw to the curb the common myths that a mother can drink up to three months into her pregnancy. Only way to ensure a healthier baby is to immediately stop drinking. Easier said than done, however, after all research also suggests that alcoholism has a thing for running in the family. Factor into this alcohol withdrawal syndrome where attempting to quit sometimes opens another can of worms and you’re stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. Hence medical or expert attention comes highly recommended to long-term alcohol users who want to quit the habit. But for your baby, FASD can cause a whole lot of unwanted problems like an abnormal appearance, behavioural problems, learning difficulties and small head size. Ultimately this can dog them well into their school and work lives, leading to difficulties with other drugs, the legal system and a general inability to function effectively in society.
The Department of Social Development has been at the forefront of offering support to expecting mothers with drinking problems as well as educating society about FASD. Estelle Jacobs is a prominent face around similar campaigns particularly in farming communities. Through their Hantam Community Education Trust (HECT) they have earnestly sought to improve the quality of lives of these often neglected and marginalised farming communities. Vibrant and well-spoken, the ladies from the Lebone Trust are on a similar mission. Working in the Early Childhood Development space, they hope to give their children a head start. A rather bleak report by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study found that a shocking 78 percent of Grade 4s could not read for meaning. Plainly put, this means more than three quarters of 9 and 10 year olds are illiterate. These are the issues that the Lebone Centre and HECT hope to address. One often quotes the cliched, “the children are our future.” These guys aren’t in the business of making useless quotes. They act. And to them, too, we at eparkeni say cheers.
Great stuff colleague