Pregnancy bingeing "child abuse" row

Friday July 9th, 2010

Pregnant women who engage in binge drinking are guilty of "child abuse", a senior government adviser has said.

Professor Barry Carpenter's comments alarmed midwives, who said his comments were "less than helpful".

Professor Carpenter is the British government's national director for special educational needs and a teacher by profession.

Speaking to nurses, he said the main cause of growing numbers of children being born with learning disabilities was fetal alcohol syndrome disorder - the result of a woman drinking heavily during pregnancy.

He blamed binge drinking among young women - saying that they often continued drinking for the first 13 weeks of pregnancy as they had not planned on having a baby.

He said: "Drunken young women are poisoning their babies - it is child abuse by umbilical cord."

His comments were reported by the Royal College of Nursing journal Disability Practice.

But Mervi Jokinen, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "Whilst Professor Carpenter's ultimate aims may be laudable, I think that his use of language is perhaps less than helpful in encouraging these young women to think about their actions.

"Midwives can discuss the evidence about drinking during pregnancy with young women and encourage informed choice about drinking alcohol when pregnant."

Tags: Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Drug and Alcohol Abuse | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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