Impact of Alcohol Consumption in Women During Pregnancy and Solutions

This report addresses the critical issue of alcohol consumption in women during pregnancy and breastfeeding, highlighting the increasing prevalence and associated risks, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It explores various solutions, such as partner intervention, improved healthcare facilities with counseling programs, and government initiatives to educate and support pregnant women. The report emphasizes the importance of partner support, accessible healthcare, and educational campaigns to inform women about the dangers of alcohol. It also discusses the government's role in ensuring accessible healthcare and transport to facilities. The conclusion underscores the need for strict policies, prevention strategies, and the World Health Organization's efforts to mitigate the harmful effects of alcohol on both mother and child. The report also highlights the importance of community support and the role of partners in ensuring a healthy pregnancy. This report offers a clear and comprehensive overview of the problem and potential solutions, with a focus on public health and maternal and child well-being.

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Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Women, Preparing for, during Pregnancy
and while Breastfeeding
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Introduction
Remarkably, alcohol consumption in the pregnancy period among women has increased over
the recent ages creating concern around the globe. Various organizations, including the World
Health Organization, have stepped up to try and help solve the issue. The use of alcohol during
pregnancy periods at large may cause a condition called fetal alcohol disorders to unborn
children (Sokol, 2018). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) refer to a situation in a child
that develops due to alcohol consumption during the pregnancy period (Lange, Probst, Gmel,
Rehm, 2018). This condition destroys the brain and affects the growth and development of the
offspring. The problems brought up by FASD usually vary from child to child. However, the
defects caused by fetal alcoholic disorder are irreversible. According to the study done by the
World Health Organization and other licensed hospitals, agencies prove that no quantity of
alcohol consumption is safe for pregnant women (Jacobson, Carter, Molteno, 2018).
The 2014 Global status report on alcohol and health, which involved WHO in the European
nations indicated that 59.9% of women are alcoholics. A substantial figure (12.6%) of women
engage in heavy drinking, which may also be a result of many unplanned pregnancies
(Peacock, Leung, Larney, 2018). According to the report, 43/1000 women experience
unplanned pregnancies which may, as a result, cause an unwanted burden to the lady shortly.
Also, a British study showed that the highest cases of unplanned pregnancy caused up to
(45.2%) in age brackets of 16-19 years. Another research in New Zealand shows that the ladies
who are currently pregnant (49.6%) and 36.7% were consuming alcohol before they found out
that they were pregnant and went on to receive therapy after that (Peacock, Leung, Larney,
2018). It’s an important public health topic sector in the globe as it focuses on reducing the
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disorders caused to the unborn and also ensures the safety of the mothers throughout the
pregnancy period.
Possible Solutions
According to Various reports on the consumption of alcohol in women during the pregnancy
period (Das, McIntyre, Alati, 2019): the phenomena can be controlled as per the statements
made through knowledge and following keenly on what various writers, laboratory researchers
and different types of health organization have regarded to as possible solutions.
Intervention by the partner; the involvement of a man during the early and later stages of
pregnancy is very vital to the woman (Wilson, Eurenius, Lindkvist, Edin, 2019). The man should
be able to provide sound advice to the expectant mother regarding the implications of alcohol
and any drug to the unborn child. This can however be, downcast with the fact that 'it’s never
easy to change one’s behavior within a short span. Also, friends of the pregnant woman need to
be of positive impact, something which is hard to achieve given a scenario where the friends are
victims (Price et al., 2018).
Providence of better primary healthcare facilities with efficient counseling programs for the
pregnant mothers; Health care facilities play a significant role in ensuring the expectant mother's
safety during her pregnancy and lactating period (Sabde, Chaturvedi, Randive, Sidney, Salazar,
2018). The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia's main funding
body for medical research and has played a huge role in maintaining the proper standards of
Australia’s health system. Health centers need to provide proper education to the expectant on
regular occasions; training can be done every time the mother visits the facility (Stephenson,
Heslehurst, Hall, Schoenaker, Hutchinson, 2018). Health centers can also educate the mass
through television and radio adverts, random posters, or through the commonly used ''tell a
friend to tell a friend method.'' However, in some remote places where the health facilities are
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not well developed, it is hard for the mass to be correctly educated. Mostly in the less refined
and cultural observant population.
The Government should also ensure that the health facilities are easily accessible to the people
around it. The health center should be well equipped with medicinal drugs that will help the
mother in case there was consumption of alcohol during the pregnancy and the mother decides
to stop (Ma, Danta, Day & Ma, 2018). Also, the governments should ensure that there is the
recruitment of enough and qualified medical personnel who will provide proper treatment and
therapy skills to the affected. The hospitals should also have the appropriate equipment for the
allocated and demanding tasks during the pregnancy period.
Proposed solutions and supporting evidences.
The partner should ensure that the lady does not get involved in the consumption of alcohol or if
the expectant was an alcoholic before, then he should make efforts for the woman to halt. When
it comes to unplanned marriage or lone parenthood, the pregnant women are most likely to
undergo emotional stress which might lead to the consumption of alcohol as an alternative
means to offset the situation for some time. In such cases partner's role in reducing the use of
alcohol to the expectant mother includes regular visits to the hospitals or counseling sessions.
Sufficient healthcare facilities play a significant role in ensuring that the expectant mother's
health is well taken care of throughout the period. With better health facilities, this means that
there will be the providence of qualified counseling; thus, the medical personnel can be entirely
entrusted with the responsibility of providing excellent service and advice to the expectant
mother. Usually, an efficient and renowned healthcare facility tends to attract a lot of members,
mostly through adverts or any other form of communication. The women should be educated on
the effects of alcohol during pregnancy, and some of these effects include:
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Putting the baby at risk; usually the alcohol being consumed by the expectant mother reaches
the fetus through the placenta, that means that it is also absorbed in the bloodstream of the
infant, and this might cause brain issues or even slow physical growth of the child (Schoeps,
Peterson, Mia, Waldie, Underwood, 2018). Other causes include premature birth, miscarriage,
low birth rate, and stillbirth.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; describes physical, cognitive, developmental, and emotional
problems which are consequences of continuous alcohol consumption during pregnancy (May,
Chambers, Kalberg, Zellner, Feldman, 2018). Through a statistical study carried in Australia, it
shows that its occurrence in the region is still unclear. FASD is usually accompanied by neural
development damage which alternatively leads to prolonged consequences to the individual,
family, and society at large. Fetal Spectrum Disorder leads to;
 Impaired growth and development.
 Nervous and brain system disorders.
 Facial malformations.
 Low memory, including completing tasks.
The government's role in ensuring less consumption of alcohol in expectant mother’s impact
positively on the lives of the people in the society. In some places, most remote areas have
inaccessible healthcare facilities as a result of improper road transport. It's the work of an
administrative rule to ensure that there is adequate transport, including proper means of patient
movement such as ambulance and other affordable means of transportation. A suitable method
of transport means that there is the appropriate dispatch of items where needed; for instance,
counseling personnel will be moving swiftly to their areas of concern and also increase the
chances of regular hospital visits.
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Conclusion
Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has increased gradually over the European countries.
Studies from various organizations and agencies prove that it is a significant problem during the
pregnancy period that needs to be well catered. The state needs to also set up more strict
policies concerning the use of alcohol within the nation. For example, a pregnant mother should
not purchase alcohol as per Australia’s National guidelines for alcohol consumption under the
National Health and Medical Research Council, which says that it is never safe to drink.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder has been a significant result of alcohol consumption in the
above-emphasized group. Its prevalence contains a lot of disadvantages which include long-life
disabilities that are costly handle once existence. It’s a “better prevention than cure” scenario
which means that the expectant mothers should avoid alcohol at all costs to avoid interfering
with the life of the offspring and also that of the mother. The world health organization and her
compatriot parties have worked tooth and nail to ensure that this issue is solved.
Readers find it easy to comprehend the essay since the language is plain, factual, and straight
to the point. The community at large will be enlightened on the intrinsic interaction with health
facilities during the pregnancy period Inclusive of being coherent with the pieces of advice being
given by the medical personnel. Also, partners in the community, especially men, will be more
observant of their lady’s behavior and should not entertain cases of alcohol consumption during
the period of pregnancy and also provide full support where it’s necessarily needed.
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References
Sokol, R. J. (2018). A Current Evaluation of the Economic Costs for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD).
Lange, S., Probst, C., Gmel, G., Rehm, J., Burd, L., & Popova, S. (2018). Global prevalence of
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder among children and youth.
Jacobson, S. W., Carter, R. C., Molteno, C. D., Stanton, M. E., Herbert, J. S., Lindinger, N.
M., ... & Meintjes, E. M. (2018). Efficacy of maternal choline supplementation during
pregnancy in mitigating adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on growth and
cognitive function.
Peacock, A., Leung, J., Larney, S., Colledge, S., Hickman, M., Rehm, J., ... & Ali, R. (2018).
Global statistics on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use.
Das, S. K., McIntyre, H. D., Alati, R., & Al Mamun, A. (2019). Maternal alcohol consumption
during pregnancy and its association with offspring renal function at 30 years.
Wilson, I. M., Eurenius, E., Lindkvist, M., Edin, K., & Edvardsson, K. (2019). Is there an
association between pregnant women's experience of violence and their partner's
drinking?
Price, S. L., Aston, M., Monaghan, J., Sim, M., Tomblin Murphy, G., Etowa, J., ... & Little, V.
(2018).Understanding first-time mothers’ search for information and support through
online and offline social networks.
Sabde, Y., Chaturvedi, S., Randive, B., Sidney, K., Salazar, M., De Costa, A., & Diwan, V.
(2018). Bypassing health facilities for childbirth in the context of the JSY cash transfer
program to promote institutional birth.
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Stephenson, J., Heslehurst, N., Hall, J., Schoenaker, D. A., Hutchinson, J., Cade, J. E., ... &
Kumaran, K. (2018).Nutrition and lifestyle in the preconception period and its importance
for future health.
Ma, C. K., Danta, M., Day, R., & Ma, D. D. (2018). Dealing with the spiralling price of medicines.
Schoeps, A., Peterson, E. R., Mia, Y., Waldie, K. E., Underwood, L., D'Souza, S., & Morton, S.
M. (2018). Prenatal alcohol consumption and infant and child behavior.
May, P. A., Chambers, C. D., Kalberg, W. O., Zellner, J., Feldman, H., Buckley, D., ... & Taras,
H. (2018). Prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
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