CDC: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome On Rise

Not only are they predictably cissexist and heteronormative, but the CDC also implies that maybe women should just not be drinking, full stop.

“A woman was considered at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy during the past month if she had sex with a male, drank any alcohol, and did not (and her partner did not with her) use contraception”, the CDC report said.

“Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant”, CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat said in a news release, which said that up to one in 20 USA schoolchildren may suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The takeaway appears to be that women who like to consume alcohol, and are not using some form of birth control, should pretend that they are pregnant at all times. The CDC says alcohol use during pregnancy can cause physical and intellectual problems for children. “Alcohol exposure in any of the trimesters [of a pregnancy] can have some impacts on…the fetus”. And in much the same way that the spread of the Zika virus has been turned into a “Ladies, don’t get pregnant” story, the CDC’s recommendations presume an very bad lot about women’s behavior and ignores a lot about their access to birth control and abortion, and oddly inconsistent in its message when it comes to “excessive” drinking and “any level of alcohol use” at all.

About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and many women who become pregnant are not aware of it for about a month.

“Realistically, most people come in here and say I’ve had some alcohol before I knew I was pregnant, and I say, ‘At this point, it’s done”.

On Grounded Parents, writer Steph – a mother of two and stepmother of two more – opined that “While the US government has not yet formalized restrictions on what I can and can’t do as a woman of childbearing age, this culture shift – viewing women as vessels for potential babies – scares me”.

“It might not be the best idea to blanketly say that all sexually active women shouldn’t drink because that’s not going to happen”, said Elaine Benke, a University of Minnesota student.

It’s absolutely commendable that the CDC is increasing awareness surrounding fetal alcohol syndrome, and it’s understandable that an organization like the CDC would fall on the more cautionary side of the “can people drink during pregnancy?”

“I think it is a little extreme”, Julia Lavigne of Chicopee said. This means a woman might be drinking and exposing her developing baby to alcohol without knowing it….