200 diagnosed with FASD in Gateshead over 18 months.
In just 18 months - 200 Gateshead children have been diagnosed with lifelong disabilities due to alcohol.
More than 200 children have been diagnosed with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Gateshead over the past year and a half.
Health professionals have stepped up work on it here since March 2015. They found that the majority of kids suffering from the preventable lifelong disability are in care.
In the last year almost a third of looked after children in Gateshead have been diagnosed with the condition with others still to be assessed.
After hearing the findings councillors said they were concerned about stigmatising and labelling people, but Dr Helen Palmer, Consultant Paediatrician at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and designated doctor for looked after children in Gateshead, said:
“I know it’s a shock, but if we know it’s there we have got to change things.
“It’s not the women’s fault because it was only in January this year when we first introduce the guidance saying no alcohol in pregnancy… other countries like Canada were saying that more than 20 years ago.
“We’ve got a lot to answer for… Doctors used to prescribe alcohol during pregnancy, the glass of Guinness or the glass of stout. There’s been a real mixed message about what’s safe.
“It’s a disability and it’s an invisible one. The outcomes for children with FASD are really poor unless we do some intervention work and we have to recognise them to do some intervention work.”
Dr Palmer is also urging dads-to-be to give up drinking alcohol while their partner is pregnant too. She said:
“If we can persuade fathers to give up drinking, just for that nine months, that would support the woman in not drinking during pregnancy.”
You can read more about FASD and get help here: