Doing so can cause an array of physical and mental impairments in the child. Indeed, health organizations are virtually unanimous on the issue: Women should not drink while pregnant. In the updated poster, the disputed line was replaced with: “A very important choice you can make for the health of your baby is to abstain from alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breast-feeding.” The news was first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. “DrinkWise wants to ensure all women are aware of the risks of drinking while pregnant,” he wrote.
Strahan said DrinkWise “immediately acted upon” a complaint from the Australian Medical Association “to refine the message to avoid any potential for misinterpretation.” “It is clear, from the ‘It’s safest not to drink while pregnant’ headline of the posters, that the intent is to encourage abstinence when pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breast-feeding,” he said. In an emailed statement, DrinkWise’s chief executive, Simon Strahan, suggested the flap was more about precise messaging than intent. “The truth is, that’s what they want the public to believe.” “It’s more than just erroneous for the alcohol industry to make that statement,” Michael Thorn, chief executive of the Foundation of Alcohol Research and Education, which is based in the Australian capital, Canberra, said in an interview.
It withdrew the 2,400 posters after hearing complaints and substituted new text.īut concerns remained among people working to spread the message that women should stay away from alcohol while pregnant.
The organization that made the posters, DrinkWise, describes its focus as promoting “a healthier and safer drinking culture in Australia,” but is funded largely by the alcohol industry. Creating doubt around the science could confuse pregnant women and encourage them to ignore warnings, they feared. Public health groups responded with resounding protests - drinking alcohol while pregnant is very definitively known to be unsafe, they said. It was the next line, in smaller type, that alarmed medical professionals: “It’s not known if alcohol is safe to drink when you are pregnant.”
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