As previous research carried out by experts in Helsinki has already suggested, the link between consuming alcohol while pregnant and brain damage in children has been reiterated by a leading expert in child health.
Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, emeritus professor of child health at University College London, stated this week that exposure to alcohol while in the womb is proven to be the biggest cause of brain damage in children.
In a statement issued this week, Aynsley-Green said: “Exposure to alcohol before birth is one of the most significant causes of childhood brain damage, learning disability, poor behaviour and even criminality, affecting up to one in every 100 births.”
He added: “It is entirely preventable by not drinking alcohol during pregnancy, but despite this, advice to expectant mothers…is inconsistent, contradictory and confusing, and services to support diagnosis and management of affected children are inadequate.”
Aynsley-Green – who was England’s first child commissioner – called for governments everywhere to provide better education on the subject, as well as increased support to children affected by conditions such as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.
