If you are a believer that it is OK to have a few alcoholic drinks when pregnant you are running a serious risk of giving birth to a child who is misdiagnosed with ADHD or pervasive learning disorder and making your life a misery for the next thirty years.
When I first became aware of this problem in society at the time in the US gaols (2000) 40% were said to be there as a result of their mothers drinking when pregnant. Social workers had a saying for it: the boys get locked up, the girls get knocked up.
The alcohol industry here has knowingly not followed some precedents from the United States and put warning labels on bottles and it is quite tragic and turns my stomach when I see a visibly pregnant woman drinking.
Unfortunately most female party goers do not realize they are pregnant for six weeks by which case they are behind the eight ball even if they stop drinking immediately as most damage is done when the fetus is in embryonic stage.
This has catastrophic results in disadvantaged groups, particularly aborigines but is not rare among educated but uninformed people. I know for a fact that the Queensland governments recommendation is that two standard drinks a day is RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!! WTF?????
If it is okay for a daily drinker to have two then how many are not going to do any harm after a few, then a few more!!!
If you don't believe it do some research. I speak from close knowledge and it ain't nice!
It may also go some way toward answering why it is that some kids you know just cannot behave.
The alchohol industry has a huge hold on a lid just waiting to blow. Tobacco is not good for mums but it does not result in brain damage (that I know of anyway).
Japie is not exagerating.
Wifey is a paediatric nurse and sees these cases on a daily basis.
The bubs/kids that come from disadvantaged and dodgy backgrounds are easier to spot but it is a syndrome that is truly widespread accross the spectrum as Ozzies love a bit of nectar. Kids from better backgrounds usually have better schooling,tutors/families to help overcome the hurdles, but the hurdles needn't be there.
Up to a decade ago having a couple of drinks during pregnancy was thought no harm at all, hell even getting shellacked a few times in the 9 months was thought to do little harm. 100% wrong.
All the research shows that even a very small amount of alchohol during pregnancy has significant affects. These affects are life long.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome
embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Defect/page5a.htm
As Japie says unfortunately a lot of damage is done by women who don't evenb realise they are preggo at the time. Tragic.
Although I - in the great Oz tradition - love a bit of sauce, wifey has never been a drinker. At times socially I have thought it a pain in the butt, these days I mostly admire her for it, and am sooo thankful that she didn't drink regularly/heavily before, during or after the pregnancy.
Who out there thinks a preggo mum smoking is ok? Then why would introducing alchohol to the babies blood system/intake be ok? Sorry but in this day and age - if you have a bump and suck down the suds - you probably deserve the scorn afforded to preggo women who suck on tar.
Wifey has a friend I find extremely annoying and downright ignorant. She is one of the most opinionated but least informed people I have ever met. Having also met her family and knowing her mum and dad's love of the sauce (and they do LOVE it) without doubt the daughter is a FAS kid. Her sister, the same. They are around 40 and were products of a differant era. They are both from affluent backgrounds and their parents have always lived it up - BIG. The offspring are damaged I am sure of it (there are several indicators including physical).
It is fortunate that most preggo women have their taste buds turned upside down during preggo and former delights like coffee, wine etc suddenly become unappealing. Probably nature's way of stearing away from trouble.
10-20 yrs from now we will probably look back on generations that didn't adhere to zero grog during pregnancy/breast feeding in the same way we scoff at doctors doing adds for ciggies and the love Oz once had for asbestos.
This post was prompted by my house mates car being stolen by two kids, 13&15, form Stockton and driven at speeds of up to 150k's per hour up to Muswellbrook where the coppers eventually spiked the road and arrested them.
Their old man has been in contact and told us the story. He cannot do anything with them.
I have been there and done that. I know what the cause was in my case and it ****s me to tears that ten years later the alchohol industry STILL holds power over logic.
I am not exaggerating. It is quite, quite tragic.
Ozzies (and we aren't alone in this) remain blissfully unaware of the huge damge alchohol does to ourselves, our society and our future.
As I said I enjoy a few bevvies and occasionally wearing a lampshade and dancing like Peter Garret but (unlike the big media whipping boys; smack, pills, speed and even ciggies) no-one want to face up to the huge financial and widespread costs that a saturation of alchohol culture does.
Everything in moderation.
Good post Japie.
my wife works with these people all the time , and health workers are starting to recognise the second and third generation babies, and connections to inability to learn . It seems to me like another one of those conditions that seems to feed on itself
The women are only part of the equation,......Us boozed blokes,
appendages swollen with illicit drugs and alkeyhole pressuring the
ladies for a game of hide the sausage after a party. We contribute
big problems in the egg factory.
To be born as a result of one coupling such as this, is less than a
great start to life.
No one can select their Parents. Its a game of chance , some make it
others don't. All fetuses deserve an even start to life...or abort. 
IMO obviously boredom has set in due to lack of wind. I thought this forum was related to the water/wind?
So instead of :
a) making his kids take personal responsibility for stealing a car and endangering other peoples lives, or
b) taking the responsibility for his children's actions himself
he chooses
c) blame someone else
The worst part is the kids will think that it doesn't matter what they do in life, it's never going to be their fault.
... and I find it hard to believe given the experience in Europe where it is normal for men and women (preggie or not) to consume wine in moderation with most meals. The Italian and French seem pretty normal to me. OK, maybe not sooo much the French. 
I worry when bad behaviour is medicalised.
Certianly there are probably circumstances that permit the 'unsoundness of mind' defence but i believe they are rare.
Bad behaviour is exactly that - bad behaviour - and kids who know no boundaries or have never experienced consequences of their actions are more prone to acting out
Kids need stability, security, boundaries, rules and consequences not fkn dexamphetamines or medical diagnosis for bad behaviour
I don't think bad behaviour is trying to be passed off as 'new medical condition of the year'.
This is a recognised syndrome just as 'Downs'and many other differant syndromes mean there are classic and recognised indicators. Basically we are talking mild to severe brain damage to many aspects of the brain and classic physical characteristics.
Yes - there is a high incidence among 'difficult 'members of society. That doesn't mean it is being used as a defence (generally) to get crims of a charge, but it is the results of the syndrome - and the affect is has on the baby, that one day becomes a 'problem' for everyone - staring us in the face.
He he - yeh some wind would be good.
Japie is 100% correct m***********s!
"Fetal alcohol exposure is the leading known cause of mental retardation in the Western world.In the United States and Europe the FAS prevalence rate is estimated to be nearly one in every 100 live births."
I thought this was common knowledge nowadays? Look, it's even on the internet now:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome
^^ Not to play down the damage that can be done to an unborn child by all drugs. But I have to agree with what PR said, plus add that diet can have an affect on a childs behaviour. Know that a few simple diet changes helped change my sons' behaviour. Removed some of the crudd from his diet, replaced that with green & orange vegies and tamtrums dropped 90% 
Btw, reading this reminds me... When my (now ex) wife was pregnant with our second son, she insisted of drinking lots of coffee
From an early age our son would seek out coffee, so much so that 'coffee' was one of his earliest words. Try explaining to a mother, that iced coffee is NOT an appropriate drink to give a 2 year old
Fast forward 8 years and 1 divorce and then explain to the same mother that redbull is NOT an appropriate drink to give a 10 year old
4 years later he still seeks out caffeine.
His mother layed off the coffee when pregnant with his brothers and neither of them have ever shown any liking or interest for coffee.
Japie, I don't mean to hijack your thread. Thanks for sharing your thoughts/experience.
i worked with a bogan chick that said the only thing that cured her morning sickness were 'buckets'
stupid bogan feral
Maxm you have entirely missed the point.
Alchohol intake for pregnant women should be thought of in the same way that weed, smack, nicotine already are, and more so, as it appears to be more harmful than those.
The facts and affects are alarming - I am not attempting to be alarming as such.
Bog down in details if you choose to but we all pass judgement (verbally or otherwise - if you want to clech your sphincter about it) when we see a pregnant woman smoking and as time passes you will one day find yourself doing the same when you see a pregnant lady having a 'harmless drink or two'.
Maxm, feel free to take the high ground and pretend you don't judge examples of bad parenting/nurturing if you like. Or be honest.
Geez. The syndrome is real. The affects are out there. Argue about semantics all you like.. or wake up.
EDIT:
In answer to your legitimate question How much more harmful? Obviously you know it's ridiculous to attempt to put a percentage on the damage.
It is relatively early days in research (the problem was 1st taken seriously 30 yrs ago but ignored in the mainstream) as we have had our collective heads in the sand (or porcelain telephone) but it appears the results to date show even moderate and infrequent alchohol intake is harmful. Unless of course you prefer a brain damaged child with physical indicators, lack of concentration, anger control, cognitive abilities etc etc etc etc.
So the safest bet is zero intake.
You don't have to believe me, but if you really want to know the truth (rather than just be the bloke who stuck it to some random dood on Seabreeze) look for the facts and accept it is a real problem in our society.
BTW - I did not suggest ciggies are harmless. They are less harmful than alchohol to an unborn child though.
