Annual NOFAS Hill Day and Leadership Awards Benefit Rapidly Approaching
The annual NOFAS Hill Day and Benefit are one month away. FASD families and advocates are urged to join the nearly 100 delegates convening in Washington, D.C. to visit with members of Congress and their staff on June 7 and 8. NOFAS Public Affairs Director Lindsay Daschle is organizing Hill Day and the agenda for delegates. Contact Lindsay to participate, daschle@nofas.org.
At the June 7, benefit reception NOFAS recognizes members of Congress and other distinguished leaders who have been instrumental in advancing FASD research, prevention and advocacy. Former Senator Tom Daschle, Linda Hall Daschle and Senator Lisa Murkowski are hosting this year’s event, honoring Senator John McCain, Chris Dodd, Thad Cochran and Byron Dorgan. FASD Advocate Cheri Scott, pioneering researcher Dr. Sterling Clarren and former National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Deputy Director Dr. Faye Calhoun will also be honored for their important contributions to the field.
The awards benefit is chaired by Terry Lierman, Kate Boyce and Rob Lively, and is sponsored again this year by underwriting Trustee Schering-Plough. Sponsorships range from $1,000 to $25,000, and tickets start at $100. Contact Tom Donaldson, donaldson@nofas.org to contribute to NOFAS. Thank you for your important support!
NOFAS Affiliates Summit
The NOFAS affiliate program continues to grow despite funding challenges, and members of the network will meet in Washington, D.C. on June 6. In 2005, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) FASD Center for Excellence provided funding for the NOFAS affiliate program to expand the network and support local community efforts addressing FASD.
This year, SAMHSA and the Center declined to provide funding at any level for the program or the affiliate organizations, yet NOFAS expects to add 8-12 affiliates in 2006. Universities, national and local non-profit organizations and organizations seeking non-profit status may join the network. Contact Nav Dayanand, dayanand@nofas.org, for the affiliate guidelines and the application.
NOFAS Affiliates to Spread FASD Awareness to Community Health Centers
This year NOFAS is focusing on integrating FASD prevention, identification, and intervention in the nation’s Community Health Centers (CHC's). CHC's are the nation's largest public health care delivery system, serving over 6 million persons annually.
CHC's are being asked to commemorate National Women's Health Week by participating in the National Women's Check-Up Day on Monday, May 15, 2006. NOFAS is working to ensure that the prevention of prenatal alcohol exposure is included as a key part of this national event.
To date, NOFAS Affiliates from California, Alaska, Minnesota, North Carolina, and South Dakota have agreed to participate with local CHC’s on this day by providing free FASD prevention materials for use during the event and throughout the year. Affiliates will also offer to provide training to staff on FASD and to serve as a community resource for persons with FASD and their families. Our hope is to use this event to begin to systematically establish relationships with CHC's across the country.
You can learn more about National Women's Check Up Day and National Women’s Health Week at: http://www.4woman.gov/whw/
NOFAS Reaches Future Doctors with the FASD Message
NOFAS began another session of educating Georgetown University medical students about the consequences of FASD and strategies for preventing and addressing the disorder. Earlier this year, NOFAS conducted two similar sessions at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.
Over ten years ago, NOFAS recognized the role of health professionals in promoting behaviors that improve pregnancy outcomes and developed a curriculum for use in teaching medical school students. The NOFAS curriculum presents the disease through a bio/psycho/social approach. This model brings the traditionally emphasized cellular and sub cellular scientific understanding of disease into contact with the personal, familial, and societal dimensions. The curriculum highlights the need for effective communication, counseling and leadership, as well as responsibilities of the medical professional in the identification and prevention of this syndrome
The class is offered as an elective for students and held once a week for eight weeks. NOFAS staff and other experts from the field conduct the lectures. In addition to classroom lectures, students go on "field trips" to FASD diagnostic clinics and substance abuse treatment centers. As part of their final grade, students prepare a research paper and conduct an oral presentation.
NOFAS Responds to US Weekly and People Magazines
These popular magazines recently published stories about a well known actress drinking during pregnancy. NOFAS was concerned that articles in such visible and widely read magazines could send the wrong message to women so we wrote letters to the editors of both publications.
US Weekly Magazine published an article titled “Gwyneth’s Drinking Controversy” (April 17th) after the NY Daily News reported that actress Gwyneth Paltrow was seen drinking a Guinness beer at a restaurant while pregnant. (see: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/404266p-342376c.html)
The article included a reference to an old wives’ tale that drinking Guinness beer was beneficial to pregnant and nursing women due to its purported high iron content. The article did quote a doctor saying “it was generally not advised to drink alcohol while pregnant”, which NOFAS applauded, however we were concerned that simply printing the Guinness myth could lead some women to think there was truth to it.
The same week, People magazine published a story “Nesting Hollywood Style” (April 17th), that reported on various celebrities and their preparations for motherhood including a mention of the Paltrow beer incident. A side bar to the story posed the question “If I’m Pregnant, Can I Have a Beer?” to which an OB/GYN from London stated that, "limited drinking, defined as no more than a pint a day, (equivalent of 16 US ounces) was okay after the first trimester."
The medical and scientific literature overwhelmingly supports the hypothesis that there are risks of alcohol related physical, cognitive, and behavioral deficits in children whose mothers drank even low to moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. The doctor's statement goes against NOFAS' position on total abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy as well as the positions of the US Surgeon General, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and many other professional medical societies.
NOFAS will continue to respond when the issue of drinking during pregnancy–both positive and negative–appears in print, television, film, and the internet. We urge you to do the same.
NOFAS April Events
Kathy Mitchell, NOFAS's Vice President and National Spokesperson, presented at the following conferences and workshops during the month of April:
April 3rd: Presented “Preventing and Identifying Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” during the opening session at the First Coast Family Center’s 13th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Recognition Awards and Conference in Jacksonville, FL.
April 4th: Presented “Preventing the Leading Known Cause of Fetal Brain Damage: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)” at the 15th Annual Continuing Education Conference in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Mobile, AL.
April 6th: Presented a special evening session on FASD to staff and community of the Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens (MARC), University of South Alabama Department of Medical Genetics, Greater Mobile-Washington Counties Mental Health Board, Inc, and Mobile Public Library.
April 24th- 25th: Conducted classes with Georgetown University Nursing and Health Promotion Students.
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