Skip to main content

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Question for Department of Health

UIN HL3952, tabled on 8 December 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assess and tackle the problems occasioned by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Answered on

19 December 2016

The Department has been exploring the feasibility of commissioning new research in the area of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. However, identifying methodologically feasible and robust new research in this area is challenging, expensive and faces ethical challenges.

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines provide the public with the most up-to-date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking. A copy is attached.

The guideline for women who are pregnant or think they could become pregnant, is that the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to reduce risks to the baby to a minimum.