The Effects Of Alcohol Abuse During Pregnancy - 1552 Words

Introduction The Council on Recovery, plans to address the issue of alcohol abuse during pregnancy in Harris county, TX with behavioral and cognitive-based education interventions. According to the CDC, pregnant women with the highest prevalence of any alcohol use were those that are 35-44 years of age, college graduates, or not married with lifetime-care costs estimated at over $2 million. The CDC also reports the state of Texas has 45% of any alcohol use among women aged 18-44 and 14.8% of the same age group binge drinking (FASD Data, 2015). It is this age group that The Council on Recovery will attempt to contact and educate through motivational intervention (MI) and support focus groups. CHOICES is a program that incorporates†¦show more content†¦In the randomized control trials, over 69% of women reported reducing their risk for an alcohol-expose pregnancy versus the reported 54% of women with normal health care methods (CHOICES, 2013). This program would be unique for Harris County because The Council on Recovery will implement these concepts with younger mothers who have higher risks due to social influences and poor knowledge attainment on the matter of alcohol use and pregnancy (i.e. social media, peer influence). This program will have a dual-focus in the aspect of effectively lowering alcohol-exposed pregnancy and the use of effective contraception to provoke better family planning and avoid unnoticed weeks in a pregnancy and still consuming alcohol. Scope of the Problem During pregnancy, the development of an unborn fetus is of extreme priority and must not be disrupted in any manner; otherwise complications arise. It is unfortunate that almost 50% of United States pregnancies are unplanned and unrecognized for weeks. It is during those unrecognized weeks that mothers continue to consume alcohol resulting in an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (Ingersoll, 2013). Mothers who consume any amount of alcohol pose a serious threat to their unborn child and even to themselves with risks including pre-term delivery, low birth weight and numerous conditions within in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. According to an