Alcohol and Other Drug Related Birth Defects Awareness Week to Begin on Mother's Day
New York, NY (PRWEB) February 25, 2014 -- Alcohol, Drugs and Childbirth do not go together. Yet, in the U.S., 20% (about 1 million) of pregnant women smoke cigarettes; another 18% (about 750,000) drink alcohol during pregnancy; and another 6% (225,000) use an illicit drug at least once while carrying a child to term.
Starting on Mother’s Day, NCADD Alcohol & Other Drug Related Birth Defects Awareness Week is a reminder that alcohol and drug use during pregnancy can be detrimental to a mother and her child. Prenatal alcohol and drug use can result in a spectrum of adverse conditions. One of the most severe outcomes being fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is the constellation of developmental defects that result from maternal abuse of alcohol during pregnancy, including infant facial malformations, growth deficits, and central nervous system problems that can persist throughout a child’s life.
Approximately one in every 100 children born nation-wide is adversely affected by prenatal alcohol and drug exposure, including children with the full fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as children who may not have all of the external features of the syndrome, but whose brains have been injured.
NCADD believes children deserve better. An educated mother and her spouse and/or sexual partner can prevent the fate such newborns face. NCADD knows these tragic births can be prevented if people understood the realities behind alcohol and drug use during pregnancy.
So, on May 11-17, 2014, please join NCADD and our National Network of Affiliates get the message out. Together we can prevent birth defects.
For more information and a current Fact Sheet on Alcohol & Other Drug Related Birth Defects, visit the NCADD website at http://www.ncadd.org. To learn more about raising awareness of Alcohol & Other Drug Related Birth Defects see “Rochester Affiliate Raising Awareness About Drinking During Pregnancy.”
Leah Brock, NCADD, http://www.ncadd.org, +1 212-269-7797 Ext: 14, [email protected]
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