NURSE PRACTITIONERS, MIDWIVES, & NURSES
Partnering to Prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Here comes March and Brain Awareness Week!
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a collection of diagnoses related to the exposure of the fetus to alcohol during pregnancy. The effects are life-long and many are "brain-based" or "hidden", where there are no outward physical signs such as the facial features characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome, the most well-known but least common type of FASD.
We spoke with Dr. Lynn Cole on the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on brain development and how it can impact a person's cognition, emotion, and behavior for our series FASD Champions Connect. Learn more about FASDs and the role of nurse practitioners, midwives, and nurses in the prevention of FASDs.
NPs, Midwives and Nurses: Partnering to Prevent FASDs is part of the Collaborative for Alcohol-Free Pregnancy, a group of national partners, medical societies, university centers, and a variety of practitioners from six health disciplines who work together to prevent FASDs and excessive drinking.
The goal of the Collaborative is to impact healthcare practice at the systems level and enhance FASD prevention opportunities nationally for women of reproductive age and their support networks.
This website is a collaboration of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses, and the University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services.
Our partnership aims to increase knowledge and skills among advanced practice nurses and midwives about the health impact of excessive alcohol use, including any alcohol use during pregnancy, to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies and improve population health.
This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Cooperative Agreement Number NU84DD000017. These contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research.