CEO Cautions Pregnant Women Against Alcohol

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Organisation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (GOFAS), Mrs. Amonobea Boakye, has said that 'a pregnant woman who has interest in drinking hard drinks during pregnancy will pave way for her baby to develop mental illness and disabilities'.

She said this bad decision makes the unborn baby mentally disabled, due to the destruction of their brains caused by the in-take of hard content of the alcoholic drinks.

The mental setting degenerates into physical and mental disabilities transferred from mother to the babies. She added that this bad predicament hinders Ghana's socio-economic process.

The meeting was held in Accra, attended by 120 trained nurses and service providers selected from the Pantang hospital. They were also educated on the various forms of mental disabilities associated with babies during their growing age caused by mothers drinking alcohol during pregnant stages.

Mrs Amonobea Boakye said that pre-natal alcohol exposure gradually develops into Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), 'we appeal to the government, to implement policies that will benefit mentally ill persons in the society.'

The CEO called on pregnant women to exercise alcohol restraints. She added that  it has become positively proved by the research  and statistics that was organised country-wide in 2001 by GOFAS that, 'out of 150 women of child bearing respondents, about 129 respondents between the ages of 15-16 represents 86 per cent mothers drunk various forms of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy'.

She said that her outfit will embark on continuous aggressive awareness projects such as workshops, seminars and conferences on FAS to demonstrate how possible , we can all deal with children with mental and physical disabilities from their root causes as far as FAS related illness are concerned.