Women urged to stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy
Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr. Kailesh Jagutpal, on Monday urged women to stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy as he launched a leaflet on the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy.
The leaflet is targeted at future mothers. It covers several topics namely pregnancy and alcohol; a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy; Planning for a pregnancy-I stop drinking alcohol!; the effects of alcohol consumption on pregnancy; the foetal alcohol syndrome; alcohol in women during the post-partum period; and how to stop drinking alcohol.
Quoting from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mr Jagutpal said that one woman in 10, on average, consumes alcohol during pregnancy and 20% of women consume alcohol excessively, that is, some four alcohol drinks or more at a time.
“WHO statistics also reveal that those most likely to drink are pregnant women aged between 35 and 44 years (18.6%), women having left college (13%); and unmarried women (12.9%).”
Quoting from the Contraceptive Prevalence Survey of 2014, he said that 3.4 % of women aged between 15 and 49 years have consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
Regarding the consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, he said they range from mild to severe symptoms such as low body weight, poor coordination, hyperactive behaviour, intellectual disability or low IQ, vision or hearing problems, learning disabilities, speech and language delays, behavioural problems, abnormal facial features, and problems with vital organs.
He added that alcohol consumption also increases the risks of miscarriage, premature delivery and stillborn babies.
According to him, since these problems are irreversible, innocent children are victims of this syndrome. They will suffer from various diseases throughout their lives.
“Preventing and reducing risky and harmful alcohol use among women of reproductive age is an important public health issue,” he said.
-0- PANA NA/MA 13Sept2022
