The City of Cape Town’s Health and Social Development and Early Childhood Development (SD & ECD) Departments will join the rest of the world in commemorating Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Day tomorrow. The annual event is marked with the ringing of bells at 09:00 on the ninth day of the ninth month.
‘The message is that any exposure to alcohol has serious negative consequences on an unborn baby. Those effects are permanent and irreversible. The two City departments not only commemorate the day, but throughout the year run programmes and assist women in beating substance abuse. At our clinics, antenatal programmes ensure mothers-to-be have a healthy pregnancy and baby,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
SD & ECD offers awareness sessions in communities.
‘The message is communicated using simulators to illustrate the dangers and consequences of drinking during pregnancy. As a mitigation during Covid-19, SD & ECD created an activity book illustrating the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. This is in addition to City Health, which monitors pregnant women via the basic antenatal care (BANC) programme and encourages no drinking at any stage during pregnancy,’ said Councillor Badroodien.
The BANC programme encourages women to enrol before they are 14 weeks pregnant as this gives enough time to identify and mitigate any problems that may have an impact on the health of their unborn baby.
In addition, the Matrix programme offers free alcohol and drug treatment at eight City clinics. The clinics at these sites will join in the ringing of the bells tomorrow morning.
SD & ECD will host a number of awareness sessions tomorrow at clinics, a primary school and the Culemborg Safe Space.
‘FASD can be prevented and we encourage women to stop drinking while pregnant and even to cease while they are trying to get pregnant. Like so many disorders, FASD does not discriminate and by simply not drinking, the damage to the unborn baby can be prevented.
‘I encourage moms-to-be and those still planning a family, to speak to our clinic staff. Help is available if you need assistance with an alcohol or drug problem. An alcohol free pregnancy is possible,’ added Councillor Badroodien.
Source: City Of Cape Town