Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

(asked on 6th February 2024) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's approach to preventing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.


Answered by
Andrea Leadsom Portrait
Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 19th February 2024

The Department published a Health Needs Assessment for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in September 2021, which identified areas of improvement and effective interventions. Subsequently, the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard in England for FASD to help improve diagnosis, care, and awareness, including ensuring that all women are asked about their alcohol intake. It was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204

The United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines published in 2016 provide clear advice to women not to drink alcohol if they are planning for a pregnancy or are pregnant. This message is also included in the patient information leaflet recommended for use when giving brief advice to any adult identified as drinking above low risk levels, and in the National Health Service public-facing health information pages. The guidelines are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf

The Department is currently consulting on the first ever UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment. It includes guidelines setting out how maternity, alcohol treatment and other healthcare professionals should support pregnant women to reduce or stop their alcohol use as quickly and safely as possible. Additionally, the Maternity Disparities Taskforce is producing a resource for pre-conception care for women from minority ethnic communities and those living in the most deprived areas. This guidance will include information on drinking in pregnancy.

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