Prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders must include maternal treatment

Burns, Lucy; Breen, Courtney; Dunlop, Adrian J

doi:10.5694/mja13.00019

Topics

To the Editor: There is an increased focus on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Australia with population prevention strategies and innovative work to improve detection and diagnosis of FASD, particularly in Indigenous communities.1 However, there has been insufficient focus on treatment for women with alcohol dependence, and this is where risk of harm is highest.

1 National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
2 Hunter New England Local Health District, NSW Health, Newcastle, NSW.

Correspondence: l.burns@unsw.edu.au

Acknowledgements:

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW is supported by funding from the Australian Government. Courtney Breen has received funding from the Australian Government's Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement Grants fund.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Burns L, Elliott EJ, Black E, Breen C, editors. Fetal alcohol disorders in Australia: an update. Monograph of the Intergovernmental Committee of Drugs Working Party of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. June 2012. (accessed Feb 2014).
2. Cameron CM, Davey TM, Kendall E, et al. Changes in alcohol consumption in pregnant Australian women between 2007 and 2011. Med J Aust 2013; 199: 355-357. <MJA full text>
3. Teesson M., Hall W, Slade T, et al. Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in Australia: findings of the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Addiction 2010; 105: 2085-2094.
4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2009–10: report on the National Minimum Data Set. Canberra: AIHW, 2011. (AIHW Cat. No. HSE 114; Drug Treatment Series No. 14.) https://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=10737420496 (accessed Mar 2014).
5. Smith EJ, Lui S, Terplan M. Pharmacologic interventions for pregnant women enrolled in alcohol treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009; (3): CD007361.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.