Module 5: FASD Prevention
Universal Prevention Strategies
Most women reduce or stop drinking during pregnancy. This reduction may be linked in
part to prevention messages in reading material and radio and television advertisements.
Various media campaigns
have helped raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol use during
pregnancy. For example, the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information has
made a poster (right) available for over a decade encouraging abstinence during pregnancy.
Universal approaches can help raise awareness about an issue but rarely bring about
behavior change. Warning labels on alcoholic beverages appear to have a preventive
effect on lighter drinkers. But they have little effect on the heaviest drinkers,
who are most at risk of bearing a child with an FASD. Therefore, other approaches
are needed with the heaviest and most long-term drinkers.2
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