Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone! 

A champion is a person who: 

• helps raise awareness about FASDs and preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies among their clients and colleagues;

• connects their colleagues to FASD and FASD-prevention training opportunities;

• and/or supports the implementation of universal alcohol screening and brief intervention procedures in their place of practice.

There are are many ways to be a Champion. Depending on your available time, your position, how comfortable you are making presentations, there are a variety of different activities that you can do to raise awareness and knowledge among your colleagues and clients. For more information see our Champions page or contact us.

You don't need to have a wealth of knowledge or experience to be a champion - just a willingness to be involved! As a champion, you can choose what, how often, and how much time you spend doing champion-related work. To express interest in becoming a champion, please complete this form. 

Women's health nurses, midwives, and nurse-midwives can help prevent FASDs by improving their knowledge about the risks associated with consuming alcohol during pregnancy. They can also help by providing fact-based information to their patients about FASDs and the risks of drinking too much alcohol on health in general and especially during pregnancy.

Evidence-based practices such as alcohol screening and brief intervention (aSBI) can be used to identify and provide motivational counseling to women who may be engaging in excessive alcohol use. Universal alcohol screening normalizes discussions about alcohol and reduces stigma. 

Alcohol SBI is an effective and efficient practice that is recommended for use annually with adult patients. To learn more about alcohol SBI, visit our continuing education and online learning resources, or CDC's online learning platform. 

In 2012, a widely reported study conducted in Denmark found "moderate" alcohol consumption during pregnancy did not appear to have had a significant impact on the IQ and attention of five-year olds.  However, alcohol can have a significant impact on learning, memory and executive function as well as adaptive functioning, which were not tested during the study. 

The majority of children with an FASD have normal IQ, so IQ is not a significant measure at any age. A child's brain is not finished developing at age five, many challenges can become apparent in later childhood or adolescence. More follow-up work is needed to see if there are observable effects as the children get older. 

There is no safe level of alcohol established during pregnancy. 

Alcohol crosses the placenta easily, but differences in genetics and metabolism of alcohol by both the mother and the developing baby may result in a wide range of risk. The risk may be different even in the same mother in different pregnancies. 

There is no known safe time, safe amount, or safe type of alcohol to consume during pregnancy. 

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the best known of the spectrum but represents a very small percentage of cases of FASDs. An estimated 1 in 20 children in the U.S. are affected by an FASD. It is more common that autism, which affects 1 in 68 children. 

FASDs are preventable if alcohol is avoided during pregnancy.

Alcohol screening and brief intervention (aSBI) involves asking about how much alcohol a person drinks and how often. It can be done during an annual wellness visit or as part of the first prenatal visit. It is sometimes referred to as SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment).

As a preventive service, its goal is to prevent or mitigate the risks to health and well-being associated with excessive alcohol use. It identifies and helps individuals who may be drinking above the recommended daily or weekly limits. It is also a key part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies and FASDs.

aSBI includes:

• The use of a validated screening tool, such as the US AUDIT or US AUDIT 1-3;

• A short, motivational conversation with patients who are drinking above the recommended daily or weekly amounts;

• A referral to treatment if or when appropriate.

You can learn more about aSBI/SBIRT through our online training opportunities, the CDC, and SAMHSA.