Sam Pinnell is the founder of the QLD FASD Support Group, and joined us on the programme to tell us her personal story of raising children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Ms Pinnell’s nephew, who she is raising as her own son, was diagnosed with FASD when he was a young child and Ms Pinnell set up the group to provide support to other mothers. After learning more about FASD and the effects drinking in pregnancy can have on development, she discovered that her eldest son, at 33, shared many of the same traits.
No one knows how common FASD is but a conservative estimate is that 30 babies a day are born in Australia with brain damage linked to drinking in pregnancy. Although there is a myth that one or two are ok, there is no evidence to support this. Researchers do not know how much alcohol is safe for an unborn baby, and parents are advised to stop drinking altogether.
To find out more about FASD, or to access Ms Pinnell’s group – see the Facebook page or the website here.
Another source of information is the Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Disorders Association (RFFADA), which can be found here.
