“Women are being accosted, spoken to and started at in public.
“People assume that just because you have had one drink you’ve had a bottle of vodka for breakfast.”
BPAS are asking the government to address the tone of their pregnancy guidelines and update them to include unbiased information.
Here in Ireland, the HSE advises that drinking alcohol during pregnancy puts the unborn baby at risk of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), which encompasses a wide range of developmental problems caused by exposure to alcohol during pregnancy that may lead to life-long difficulties.
According to Dr Mary O’Mahony, HSE Specialist in Public Health Medicine, women who may have had the occasional drink before they realised they were pregnant should not be worried, but cutting out alcohol completely is both the safest and healthiest approach for the unborn baby.
