Prevention

Thinking about Pregnancy: A Booklet to Reflect on Alcohol Use Before You Are Pregnant (2022)

This booklet includes information about why thinking about alcohol use during the preconception period is important as well as activities for reflection.

What We Know About Alcohol and Pregnancy (2022)

This inforgraphic summarizes what we know about pregnancy and alcohol, and what women have found helpful when making decisions to stop drinking in pregnancy.

Guidelines for Pregnancy Application (‘App’) Developers (2020)

These guidelines were created to support pregnancy app and online content developers in integrating alcohol- and FASD-related content that is clear, up-to-date, and non-judgmental in order for women, pregnant individuals, and families to learn more about alcohol/substance use during pregnancy and FASD to get the support they may need to have a healthy pregnancy.

Indigenous Approaches to FASD Prevention (2019)

These 5 booklets highlight how FASD prevention is understood and practiced in Indigenous traditional culture, recognize the historical, social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of alcohol use during pregnancy, and promote Indigenous women’s health and wellness overall. The series is a collaboration of The Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, and the Canada FASD Research Network.

ThinkFASD (2020)

Created as part of a national alcohol and pregnancy awareness campaign, this site gives you the information you need whether you’re pregnant, thinking about pregnancy, or at risk for an unplanned pregnancy.

What Men Can Do to Help (2014)

Preventing FASD is about more than telling women not to drink alcohol during pregnancy – in fact, this approach can often lead to more harm than good. Researchers and service providers who are part of the Canada FASD Research Network have some suggestions for men who want to make a difference.

What do we mean by Level 2 Prevention?

The second level of prevention is about girls and women of childbearing years having the opportunity for safe discussion about reproductive health, contraception, pregnancy, alcohol use, and related issues, with their support networks and healthcare providers.

Doorways to Conversations: Brief Intervention on Substance Use with Girls and Women – Brief interventions are collaborative conversations between an individual and a health care or social service provider about a health issue such as substance use, mental wellness, contraception, or experiences of violence and trauma. Brief interventions may be formal or informal, structured or unstructured, short or long, a one-time event, or a series of conversations over a period of time. Because substance use has wide-ranging effects on many different aspects of life, service providers across a range of health care and social service settings can have an important role in addressing the potential harms of substance use and improving overall health. This resource focuses on brief intervention with girls and women in the preconception and perinatal period.

Brief Intervention on Substance Use with Girls and Women: 50 Ideas for Dialogue, Skill Building, and Empowerment – Brief interventions are collaborative conversations about a health issue such as alcohol and pregnancy. This resource focuses on brief intervention on alcohol and other substance use with girls and women, on conversations that involve the potential harms related to substance use and also on improving girls’ and women’s overall health.

Small Steps Matter poster – This poster is designed for use by services involved in prevention of alcohol, tobacco and other substance use in pregnancy. On the front it is a poster, and on the back is information for service providers on supporting women, families and communities from a harm reduction stance. This resource was developed with the support of the Education and Training Council, Alberta FASD Cross Ministry Committee and was reviewed by members of the CanFASD Research Network with prevention expertise.

Cannabis Use During Pregnancy – In 2018, the Canadian government introduced legislation that would allow adults to legally possess and use cannabis. This issue paper explores what is known about the effects of cannabis use during pregnancy.

Harm Reduction and Pregnancy – Community-based approaches to Prenatal Substance Use in Western Canada. Since the 1990s, services for pregnant women and mothers using harm reduction approaches have emerged in many areas of Canada. Harm reduction is an approach that helps to reduce the negative e ects of alcohol and drug use at the same time as helping women to meet their immediate health, social and safety needs.

Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women Who use Substances: What Communities are Doing to Help – Communities across Canada are becoming increasingly aware of issues related to pregnancy, alcohol and substance use, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and child health and development. In many communities, the needs of pregnant women with substance use issues are of particular concern as they often intersect with issues such as poverty, unsafe or inadequate housing, violence and abuse, food insecurity, and other health and social issues. This document profiles the development of single-access programs in four different communities and talks about why this type of program works.

Substance Use During Pregnancy: An Overview of Key Canadian Policy and Practice Areas – This backgrounder provides a brief overview of several important areas of policy-making and discusses how policy can contribute to developing supportive health and social services to effectively address substance use during pregnancy.

Parent-Child Assistance Program in Alberta First Nation Communities Evaluation Report — The evaluation was undertaken to provide key information about how the Parent–Child Assistance Program (PCAP) was being implemented in order to identify areas for improvement, and to provide outcome information to stakeholders to inform decision-making regarding ongoing implementation of PCAP in First Nation communities.

Environmental Scan of Prenatal Services for Marginalized Women in Alberta: Specialized Services — The Marginalized Women Working Group was formed by the Maternal Newborn Child and Youth Strategic Clinical Network to examine the availability and access to prenatal care services for marginalized women in Alberta. This environmental scan has been conducted to determine what prenatal services currently exist for marginalized women in Alberta and identify any gaps or opportunities that may be present.

Evaluation of FASD Mentoring Programs: Summary of Activities 2011-12

Understanding mothers experiencing homelessness: A gendered approach to finding solutions for family homelessness — This report examines social experiences for mothers and children who are experiencing homelessness in two shelters and one housing program in Calgary, Alberta. Currently, much of the research on homelessness and what works for supporting individuals into sustainable housing comes from research on the single, adult, male population. This study provides evidence to better understand how families become homeless, and the experiences of mothers and children as they move within various public systems while dealing with a history of violence, trauma, and poverty. We conclude with several recommendations, from an asset- or strength- based approach, to reduce structural barriers, bridge gaps between public systems, increase access and availability of supports and ensure cultural supports and trauma-informed care is at the root of interventions for vulnerable women and children.

Supporting Families at Sheway and Beyond Self, Recovery, Family, Home. This longitudinal study led by Dr Lenora Marcellus identified housing issues for new mothers and their families, and makes recommendations for programming and funding policy to reduce the burden on these mothers and children.

Taking a relational approach: the importance of timely and supportive connections for women – This issue paper has been prepared for decision makers, health system planners and service providers interested in improving care for women at risk of having a child a ected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. It has been prepared by members of the CanNorthwest FASD Research Network’s Action Team on FASD Prevention from a Women’s Health Determinants Perspective. is sheet describes the rationale for multi-faceted relational approaches, and extended timeframes for engagement and support, and finishes with ten recommendations for improved care that have implications for policy, system planning and practice.

Alcohol and Breastfeeding – New mothers and health care providers need accurate information about the effects of alcohol intake while breastfeeding. This issue paper summarizes what is known about the effects of alcohol use on lactation, as well as the impact of alcohol use while breastfeeding on infant and child health.

Wolfson, L., Poole, N., Ninomiya, M. M., Rutman, D., Letendre, S., Winterhoff, T., . . . Rowan, T. (2019). Collaborative action on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention: Principles for enacting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action #33. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16(9). doi:10.3390/ijerph16091589

Indigenous Approaches to FASD Prevention: Revitalizing Culture and Healing – The seven programs highlighted in this booklet exemplify how Indigenous communities across Canada are working to integrate culture and healing into their efforts to improve the health of women, children, and their families. Each program has thoughtfully drawn upon traditional notions of wellness, whereby culture and language, coordinating basic needs, and addressing complex challenges become a part of community-based strategies. These go beyond how we have previously created FASD prevention programs to promote healing through language, ceremony, protocols, traditional knowledge, Elders, and (re)building cultural identity for individuals and communities.

Developing an Indigenous approach to FASD – Eight Tenets for Enacting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #33

Indigenous Approaches to FASD Prevention – These 5 booklets highlight how FASD prevention is understood and practiced in Indigenous traditional culture, recognize the historical, social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of alcohol use during pregnancy, and promote Indigenous women’s health and wellness overall. The series is a collaboration of The Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, and the Canada FASD Research Network.

Reframing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Studying Culture to Identify Communication Challenges and Opportunities — Implicit cultural understandings challenge those working to increase public awareness and support for programs to prevent and address FASD. Understanding these cultural beliefs reveals key challenges that communicators face; it also helps identify opportunities to foster public engagement and build support for policies and programs that are important for reducing the prevalence of FASD as a public health issue. Through a series of interviews with members of the public in Manitoba, Canada, the cultural models that members of the Manitoban public draw on to make sense of this issue are identified.