How Social Employees Can Make a Distinction
September 2022
Binge consuming and heavy alcohol use throughout being pregnant have elevated over the previous decade, in response to a brand new examine in JAMA Community Open. Actually, from 2011 to 2020, binge drinking among pregnant women increased nearly 9 percent a year, while heavy drinking increased by more than 11 percent a year, examine authors discovered. For ladies, binge consuming means 4 or extra drinks on one event; heavy alcohol use is outlined as eight or extra drinks per week.
Any alcohol use throughout being pregnant could cause a spread of bodily, behavioral, and studying issues within the child often called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). These points can embrace speech and language delays, hyperactivity, and imaginative and prescient issues. FASDs could have an effect on as much as 1 in 20 schoolchildren within the U.S. and are the main preventable reason behind developmental disabilities.
September is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Problems Consciousness Month—a reminder that there’s no known safe amount, no safe time, and no safe type of alcohol to drink while pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Social staff could make a distinction by sharing this key message with shoppers—and by screening all adults for dangerous alcohol use. Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) is supported by greater than 30 years of analysis exhibiting its effectiveness in lowering prenatal alcohol use and FASDs. Primarily based on this proof, the U.S. Preventive Providers Activity Pressure recommends the use of alcohol SBI for all adults in primary healthcare settings.
The Nationwide Affiliation of Social Employees (NASW), the NASW Foundation and the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at The College of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks Faculty of Social Work are companions within the Collaborative for Alcohol-Free Pregnancy, a Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention initiative to encourage main well being professionals, together with social staff, to make use of confirmed follow in routine care.
To study extra, go to NASW’s web page on Behavioral Health. Extra scientific assets from Collaborative members are additionally obtainable:
- Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Training and Resources
- American School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Prevention Program
- Velasquez, M. M., Ingersoll, Ok., Sobell, M., & Sobell, L.C. (2015), Women and Drinking: Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies
By Diana Ling, MA, Program Supervisor; and Leslie Sirrianni, LCSW, Senior Analysis Mission and Coaching Coordinator; Well being Conduct Analysis and Coaching Institute, Steve Hicks Faculty of Social Work, The College of Texas at Austin
