'Alcohol and pregnancy do not mix,' Shurtleff says

Recent studies that show drinking a small amount of wine each day can be healthy don't apply to pregnant women, and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff can tell you all about it.

Speaking Thursday at a press conference for a new media campaign, Shurtleff was visibly emotional about the impact alcohol consumed during pregnancy by the birth mother of his adopted daughter has had on the now 17-year-old girl.

"Alcohol and pregnancy do not mix," he said through tears. "It's so important that we educate people, especially young women, about that fact."

Shurtleff suspended his U.S. Senate campaign Wednesday after disclosing that his daughter Danielle was admitted to a treatment facility to help deal with problems resulting from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, caused by her birth mother's drinking.

"The things we have to do so that she can progress and get well necessitates a substantial amount of time," he said in withdrawing from the Senate race.

Shurtleff said Thursday the timing of his announcement wasn't planned to coincide with the new media campaign warning against drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Utah Department of Health, and Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice collaborated with the Utah Fetal Alcohol Coalition to carry out the campaign.

State liquor stores will now have "Alcohol and Pregnancy Don't Mix" cards at every checkout counter, which includes the 1-800-826-9662 toll-free number for the "Baby Your Baby" program where pregnant women can get more information.

Mothers who drink alcohol in any amount are putting their babies at risk for both FASD and fetal alcohol syndrome, the symptoms of which always include brain damage leading to learning and behavioral problems. Other serious problems include fetal death, heart defects, facial changes, severe low birth weight, short stature and mental retardation.

Those health problems are "100 percent preventable" if women who are pregnant — or may be without having confirmed it — will avoid alcohol of any kind in any amount, said Dr. David Sundwall, executive director of the state health department.

He said he'd like to see the problem disappear in Utah through educational outreach.

Dr. Susan Lewin, University of Utah associate professor of pediatrics, said she has spent much of her career working with children who have FASD. The problem is "under-recognized and under-served," she said, noting that while alcohol is a legal substance, "it causes far more brain damage than all other illicit drugs combined."

She said there is no known level of "safe exposure" to alcohol during pregnancy because people's genetic makeup is so individualized.