The Central Australia Health Service’s Remote Alcohol & Other Drugs Workforce

Program has introduced a new educational tool to help deal with growing number of

assesses the level of risk to a woman who is pregnant and who is using alcohol.

“This resource was created because we had a number of our Remote AOD Workers

dealing with the effects of alcohol and pregnancy on the ground, and they didn’t feel

equipped with resources to support them,” said Jennifer Frendin, Program Manager.

“They were working with midwives and nurses, but there is very little material

available in Australia to address the issue so it was decided to develop an

educational resource to specifically assess alcohol use during pregnancy,” she said.

With national attention focused on FASD and media reports like the ABC’s 4 Corners

during pregnancy, this is timely.

For the more than two years the team consulted with more than 60 services,

including midwives, doctors, nurses, counsellors, health professionals from the

Menzies School of Health Research, Aboriginal Health Practitioners, and Remote

AOD workers from across the Northern Territory, to establish a workable solution.

valuable resource in the Alice Springs Hospital for women being treated during

pregnancy.

“There is a growing incidence of FASD across the Northern Territory and this

material is relevant to both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous mothers,” said Dr.

Jennifer Delima, Director of Addiction and Clinical Forensic Medicine at the Alice

Springs Hospital.

and so it helps both clinicians and families get the best possible results for mother

and baby,” she said.

identified by the National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Australia and is available on the their website as a useful resource for health

professionals and service providers.