Binge Drinking Still Up for Women 18–44
New Bipartisan Congressional Caucus to Combat
Epidemic of Alcohol-Related Birth Defects
June 16, 2004
WHAT: Capitol Hill press conference to release new report on alcohol use by women of child-bearing age and to announce the formation of the Congressional Caucus on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The report, "Pregnant Women and Drinking: The Continuing Epidemic" by the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS), analyzes national and state-by-state data on binge drinking and chronic alcohol use by women of child-bearing age. Members of Congress and NOFAS leaders also will outline legislation to combat the wide range of disorders that result from prenatal alcohol consumption.
WHO: Speaking at the press conference will be caucus co-chairpersons Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ); Dr. José Cordero, director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Tom Donaldson, president of NOFAS; and Dr. Gloria WilderBrathwaite, director of the Children's Health Project of Washington, D.C.
Kathy Tavenner Mitchell, NOFAS vice president and birth mother of a child with FAS; Dr. Neal Baer, executive producer, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; the Honorable Susan Carlson, former First Lady of Minnesota; Erica Gitis-Miles, a young woman with FAS; and families affected by FASD also will be on hand for the event.
WHEN: June 23, 2004, 11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Cannon Terrace, Independence Avenue and First Street, SE, Washington, D.C.
BACKGROUND: FASD is the leading known cause of mental retardation and birth defects. Every year, 40,000 babies are born with disorders related to prenatal drinking. This amounts to roughly one per every 100 births in the United States, making FASD more prevalent than Down Syndrome, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy combined. A single binge drinking episode has been linked to developmental delays. The annual direct and indirect costs of FASD are estimated at $5.4 billion. These defects are completely preventable, but these statistics along with trends in alcohol consumption by women of child-bearing age suggest the message is not getting across.
NOFAS is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1990 and dedicated to eliminating birth defects caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy and to improving the quality of life for those individuals and families affected by FASD.
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