Ideas@TheCentre
FASD: where angels fear to tread ...
Jeremy Sammut |
01 April 2010
There is no prevalence data available for Australia, but there is reason to believe FASD could be a serious problem here too. Overseas studies suggest FASD is concentrated in disadvantaged communities with high levels of welfare dependency, family breakdown, single motherhood and, of course, drug and alcohol abuse.
Women who already have a child with FASD are at greater risk of giving birth to another child with the same disorder. There is a high correlation between substance abuse and child abuse and neglect. Women involved with the child protection system because of complex problems, including alcohol abuse, are more likely to continue drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
The National Health and Medical Research Council has advised that not drinking at all during pregnancy is safest because of the uncertainty over the level of pre-natal exposure to alcohol required to cause harm.
Public health campaigns are needed to inform the public about these dangers and create a social taboo around pre-natal drinking. But they are less likely to have an impact in dysfunctional communities where social and behavioural norms that are taken for granted in the mainstream (especially concerning the proper care of children) do not apply.
Mandatory reporting of child protection concerns by health, education and police professionals is an effective method of identifying dysfunctional parents.
Prenatal reports are required in NSW if it is suspected that a child will be at risk of harm due to maternal drinking after they are born. The purpose of pre-natal reporting as defined by the Care and Protection Act is ‘to enable assistance and support to be provided to expectant mother to reduce likelihood that her child when born will need to be placed in foster care.’
The official non-emphasis on intervening to stop mothers from drinking during pregnancy reflects the ethical minefield that surrounds FASD. Into this minefield – women’s right to choose versus the protection of the unborn – even angels fear to tread. Dr Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at the CIS and author of ‘Fatally Flawed: the Child Protection Crisis in Australia.’ This article is based on a presentation given at the NSW Opposition’s Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Seminar this week.
