THE ALCOHOL IN PREGNANCY DEBATE

It's an ideal way to write a column. I'm attending a medical
conference while cruising the Caribbean sea. But don't think I'm
goofing off. I'm spending long days listening to a variety of
international speakers. But as a former ship's surgeon I also love
being at sea.

One speaker, Dr. George Carson, Director of Fetal Medicine at the
University of Regina, reported on the use of alcohol in pregnancy.

Some authorities have a simple solution for the tragic habit of
drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Dr. Christine Lock, Associate
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia, says
it's a myth that only irresponsible derelict mothers cause serious
birth defects. Her blunt message, "If we drink in pregnancy we place
our children at risk."

Carson said Locke's approach is indeed simple, but he questioned
whether it is good policy. He stressed that pregnancy is not a
disease, and that we're scaring pregnant women half to death when they
have a single glass of wine.

He presented data that showed moderate consumption of alcohol during
the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is not associated with increased risk
of fetal abnormalities. And that some studies show there is a benefit
to having one alcoholic drink a day.

However Locke, Carson and I all abhor the effects of excessive
drinking during pregnancy. To destroy yourself with alcohol makes no
sense. Even worse, destroying an infant physically and mentally before
birth is maternal madness. But year after year in this country,
alcohol-riddled babies are born suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome
(FAS).

Health Canada estimates that nine in every 1,000 babies born in this
country have some form of FAS and one in three of these babies will
have the severe form, with wide-set eyes, thin upper lips, low birth
weight and small head circumference. And that five ounces of absolute
alcohol a day, or binge drinking, can cause this medical and social
disaster.

Another medical catastrophe, reported by Carson, is substance abuse
and HIV infected babies. Today women are the fastest growing group of
persons with new HIV infections.

He cited a typical case, a 24-year-old woman seen in the emergency
department of a hospital. She was agitated by a severely infected vein
from repeated drug injections. Tests soon revealed she was pregnant,
had HIV, hepatitis C, gonorrhea, chlamydia and had been using cocaine
and marijuana.

Hearing of this case initially made me think, "My God! Suppose this
had been my Mother! What a disastrous way to start life!"

Today sexual activity is occurring at an earlier age. And "party
drugs" such as ecstasy are linked to unsafe sexual behaviour and HIV
infected babies.

It's tragic for mothers to be infected with the AIDS virus. But not to
get treatment compounds the problem. Carson reported that 15 percent
of all HIV infected women receive no prenatal care in the U.S.
compared to two percent of the general population.

For untreated women who do not breast feed, 20 to 30 percent of babies
will be infected with HIV. But an additional 15 to 20 percent will
become infected with the virus during breast feeding.

What a horrendous disaster! The cost to taxpayers runs into hundreds
of millions of dollars. But what about these babies? It's ironic that
anti-abortionists always cry to high heaven about the rights of the
fetus. But don't these same babies have rights?

I realize it's impossible to prevent irresponsible, drug-ridden women
from getting pregnant. But Carson related cases of HIV women getting
pregnant over and over again. Good sense dictates that there should be
legislation that allows society to sterilize these women. Surely
children should have the right be protected from such irresponsible
mothers. But it won't happen. No one in authority has the intestinal
fortitude to even mention this possibility.

In time I'll report on less troubling medical information from this
sea course. But I'm amazed at how few physicians are aware of these
courses. Any physician who wants information about them can contact me
at gifford-jones@hotmail.com. For overworked doctors it's a great way
to keep up-to-date on medical matters, meet colleagues and return home
more relaxed.