Deseret News | 'Alcohol and pregnancy do not mix,' Shurtleff says

Reader comments
'Alcohol and pregnancy do not mix,' Shurtleff says

Anonymous | 4:36 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

You can deal with this issue without being alarmist. A single drink is NOT going to cause FAS or FASD. I notice how the article didn't mention how much the woman in question was drinking. I will bet a fortune that it was a lot. Just another example of leaders/legislators going to extremes instead of dealing with the actual issue.

Anonymous | 11:34 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

There is NO safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. If drinking is that important, don't get pregnant!

Anonymous | 11:36 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

Check your facts. There is NO safe amount to drink while pregnant. If drinking is that important to you, don't get pregnant!

Comments continue below

Terra | 11:45 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

There is not a "woman in question" in this article. You missed the point! There is not a safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. The point, as mentioned above, is that NO amount of alcohol is safe and therefore if you are pregnant...DON'T DRINK. Alcohol does more damage to an unborn child than any other drug. FASD is 100% preventable. Maybe if "leader/legislators went to extremes" 5 years ago my daughter wouldn't be dealing with brain damage today.

Taylor | 12:21 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

What is FASD? The article never stated. Shouldn't acronyms be spelled out at least once??

Re: Taylor | 12:34 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

It was spelled out in the picture of the mother with her daughter the caption says:
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Wendy | 2:47 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Has he ever heard of the word Private? There are some things you shouldn't share. No wonder this girl has problems/ I am tired of hearing all about this guys problems

Primer for new law? | 4:12 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I don't believe this story at all and there is no evidence of moderate to lite drinking does any harm. Genetics is genetics and alcohol can't change that. Non drinkers face the same genetic defects so this is pure bunk.

How do they not know that all the hormones and chemicals introduced in to our food supply has not caused so many birth defects? Our meats, vegetables, grains, milk products are laced with hormonal and genetcially altering chemicals. In the last couple of decades the number of birth defects have escalated well beyond normal and everyone is looking for a cause in blind searches. Alcohol has been around for centuries and only since the introduction of genetically altering food supply has it shown up.

Many foreign countries ban our food and the FDA and chemical companies are hiding the truth about our food. If there is anything to blame, just look at what you eat and the adulterated food we have. Many chemist and doctors have tried to warn america about our food but money wins as we slowly kill ourselves and our babies get deformed.

LOL | 5:56 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Re: Terra
While I agree one shouldn't drink while pregnant (I am currently pregnant and wouldn't even entertain the thought of a drink), I think you are a bit off regarding alcohol being worse than any other drug. REALLY? Heroin? Crack/Cocaine? Me thinks you are wrong....

Anonymous | 6:59 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Don't drink while pregnant. Gotcha. Afterwards, the kids will make sure you pick it up again.

@Taylor | 7:27 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Also in the 4th paragraph of the article.

bartonjabber | 7:43 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

To: Primer for new law?
I feel sorry for your ignorance to well-based facts on substance abuse to fetus'. I do agree with you about all the other nasty things thrown into our foods... but there is substantial evidence about alcohol and other drugs and that damage done to babies.
The babies who grow into children pay the price in severe behavior and mental health problems. It is enough that adoption is absolutely a scary option any more.

Barbara | 8:01 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Re: Primer for a new law. Today science is better able to identify the cause of disorders that, like alcohol, have been around for centuries. You might want to live in France and eat there. Also, they have plenty of alcohol for consumption. Have at it.

Anonymous | 8:54 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I am pregnant and my doctor told me that one glass of wine is not going to hurt the baby. I had a few sips a month ago but wine is not really my favorite. I don't feel guilty and I don't think my baby will come out retarded just because I had a tiny glass of wine. They clearly are not laying out the facts in this bias article. One glass a day I doubt would hurt the baby, everything I have read says its a heavy drinking problem that affects your baby. And really? Putting "baby your baby" info at the liquor store... Oh that will deter some alcoholic pregnant lady from drinking... Right.

Anonymous | 9:46 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Consider that drinking kills brain cells. Fetuses don't have large brains that can afford to lose a billion cells and still work tolerably well like adults do. Fetal brains are especially vulnerable in the first few weeks of pregnancy, before most mothers even know they are pregnant. And yes, studies have shown that for the fetal brain, alcohol is even more damaging than heroin. Please, educate yourselves about this if you don't believe it's real.

Anonymous | 9:51 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Duh! Drink a tall glass of grape juice a day, it's been found to do exactly what wine claims to do, but better. That study that said a glass of wine is good for your heart, was sponsored in part by wine companies.

When I was in Ireland in the 1990s on a mission, we did weekly service in facilities that cared for FAS children. It was very sad. Years ago, pregnant women were told to drink Guiness, that it would be healthy for them because of the high iron content. "Drink Guinees for strength"

Talk about conspiring men. Alcoholic fathers can also affect the unborn to an extent. And of course afterwards with abuse, etc. Yep. Sad.

Re: Primer | 9:56 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

That is an interesting point. Years ago, a president of Utah AAA came to our school and said that it's possible that those who are from southern countries like Italy can handle their alcohol better than those of northern countries like Ireland or Norway. But that's just a theory.

But pregnancy is another story. That's a time of responsiblity to only eat and drink healthy things, no matter where you're from. And as stated above, if drinking is that important, don't get pregnant.

A IN LA | 10:10 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Weather you believe the article or not, is it REALLY worth the chance that the info could be correct and drinking COULD harm your baby? Are you so selfish that you would rather have a drink than take the precaution to protect your infant? If so, I would think you have bigger problems! Why take the chance?

SLC gal | 10:31 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

The parent of one of my parents was a heavy smoker and drinker when pregnant with my parent and siblings. All of her children had low birth weights, and my parent has a multitude of health problems, serious problems like Cereberal Palsy, that has plauged my parent their entire life.

Im pregnant and looking at the parent is all the proof I need that alcohol and tobacco consumption are not good for my baby.

Anonymous | 11:43 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Primer for new law? - what exactly do YOU eat, then? Sounds like a serious case of paranoia to me!
These people who are drinking during their pregnancy are obviously too selfish to think about anyone other than themselves. Let alone their unborn child. Face the facts and get over your selfishness.

Linda | 11:50 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Maybe drinking won't necessarily cause FASD, but I know first hand that drinking even a little bit or being around smoke and other such things can cause permanent damage to your children.

If my parents had not been partiers (although my mom drank little to none while pregnant), I would not have the plethora of health problems I have today. I know this because my younger siblings (after AA and rehab) are perfectly fine. It's me and the older ones that get to deal with poor decision-making and little education about the harmful effects of alcohol. Period. Not just when pregnant.

So as it's been said before: If drinking is that important to you, don't have kids. They shouldn't have to deal with your selfishness and your addictions too.

how sad | 12:38 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

and the hurt will go on long after the mother is gone.

BH | 1:05 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

The author missed out on providing additional compelling information.

Both the Amarican Heart Association and the American Cancer Society have recently come out with strong positions against studies that recommend drinking a glass a day of wine or beer for health reasons. Both organizations said that the risk far outweighs the benefit. And that the benefits gained can be received from many other food sources, usually in much greater quantity. They took the stand that those adhering to the health benefit of beer and wine are just looking for an excuse.

Advice well worth considering. Especially considering the sources.

Over-react much? | 1:49 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

"you can't tell by looking at them, but they have organic brain damage "

SO....we're supposed to believe that the 17-year-old birth mother "accurately" recorded that she had "only one glass of wine per day" while she was pregnant? I call BS.

First of all, although I did drink a bit during my pregnancy (in the mid-1970s), my child has NO brain damage and is, in fact, of superior intellect and demeanor. I'm not giving credit to alcohol, but this article is wildly overstating the facts.

Secondly, I'll bet that 17-year-old who got pregnant with the child the Shurtleffs adopted, was a wild one who was having sex outside marriage, was actually DRUNK often while pregnant, and probably also did drugs.

IF these scare tactics were true, about half of Utah's children born prior to 1990 would have FAS or FASD.

KLB | 1:52 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I think the AMA and other medical organziations as well as newspapers and magazines are getting too much money in advertising from all the vices to ever run any items against those substances! I wish I had a dime for every time the paper ran a story that said "XYZ is bad" and then later that week ran a contradictory item, in defense of that item. We cannot count on the media to watch out for us, folks! They are in everybody's back pocket!

A | 2:54 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

"Over-react Much? at 2:17
You sound like you're still drinking - it does affect one abilities in the mental reasoning department.......Maybe it was't the baby that gets brain damaged, but the mommy......just a thought

Taylor | 4:41 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

When I hold this beautiful little 4 year old in my arms and see her radiant smile and think of how she will so innocently, yet naively, go into her life unsuspecting of those who, like her birth mother, think first of themselves at her expense, I can hardly contain my anger. Giving birth to another human being is where one must ultimately draw the line regarding selfishness. She will live her life paying the dues those without self-discipline were unwilling to pay. If you held this child just once, and were able to feel her amazing spirit that must now traverse a landscape beyond her capabilities, you would know why this strikes so deep!

@ A | 2:54 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009 | 5:10 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

If you want to be taken seriously, please proofread before posting. I'm sure "Over-reacting" is chuckling right now, at your attempted (but illiterate) insults.

A | 8:39 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Spelling or not, I think the message was quite clear.....or didn't you understand it?

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Chen Wang, Deseret News

Terra Daniel holds her 4-year-old adopted daughter, Briar Daniel, who has fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, as Daniel speaks to the media in Salt Lake City Thursday.