Prudent mothers-to-be, using common sense, avoid all alcohol when carrying their babies.
This despite many doctors advising such women that one glass of wine per day is acceptable.
It is unfortunate that the medical profession are generally not sufficiently educated in the specialisation of alcohol and drugs.
A&D professionals have been aware of FAS and FAE for many years, and there is an active association with volunteer lay counsellors educating as many women as possible about the dangers and life-long effects on the child of a mother's gestational alcohol intake, of any amount.
All it can take is one alcoholic drink, as Professor Carpenter said. It is playing Russian roulette with the baby's life, and is not taken seriously enough to be well known.
And the mother may not know that she is pregnant when the unfortunate effects upon the child take place.
That is why any woman who is sexually active and liable to get pregnant should avoid alcohol, if she wishes to avoid damaging her child.
FAE is Foetal Alcohol Effects, and differs from FAS only in that the warning visual signs evident in the child's facial features are absent, which makes diagnosis more difficult.
The behavioural effects are not easily associated with the foetal alcohol syndrome, and therefore may be misdiagnosed.
F. Smith, Tauranga
Abortion information for women lacking
A total of 877 women were admitted to hospital in New Zealand between 2009 and 2011 for the treatment of complications following abortions, an admittance rate of 1.68 per cent.
The total number of bed-days totalled 1047.
These important statistics reveal that abortions not only kill an unborn child but can result in damage to a woman's health.
This information is not given to women considering an abortion.
This information was obtained recently under the Official Information Act from the Ministry of Health.
Information on the nature and severity of the complications is not available.
There were a total of 52,120 abortions reported to the Abortion Supervisory Committee in 2009 to 2011.
Women have a legal right to be fully informed of the consequences of abortion.
Why are women not being fully informed, for without this information they are unable to give informed consent.
A Canadian study revealed that 25 per cent of women required psychiatric help following an abortion and were more likely than others to require admission to a psychiatric hospital. The Ministry of Health advises that no statistics are recorded on women seeking psychiatric help as a result of having an abortion, why is this?
Ken Orr, Right to Life, Christchurch
Reclaim festival
For more than 40 years the longest running festival in the Southern Hemisphere was run by the Tauranga Jazz Society under its own steam and finances, without input from the council or the general public.
Without co-operation from the council this festival became a huge success.
In the last few years it has misguidedly held its hand out to the council, begging for a share of money that the council takes from ratepayers.
In those few years the festival has come into disrepute, with every man and his dog wanting a say in how it should or should not be run.
What's more, they have every right to do so.
It's time the Jazz Society took back their festival.
If you wish to be part of the programme they provide, by all means pay your entry fee. If you choose not to you have lost nothing. Forcing ratepayers to pay for entertainment is a product of our unprincipled and immoral political climate and has opened a can of worms from which you should learn an important lesson.
Remove the council from every aspect of the festival apart from their co-operation in allowing you to provide this amazing musical celebration, and leave every man and his dog to mind their own damn business.
(Abridged)
Graham Clark, Lower Kaimai
Korean concern
I was very interested to read your recent article on North Korea, their failed rocket launch, and how life is for the people of the country. They know nothing of the rest of the world and are fed such propaganda that they believe they live in paradise. The reality is that they are totally controlled by the state, which feeds and houses them under very stringent conditions.
As Anzac Day approaches, the futility of war is very relevant. Much of the budget of North Korea is spent on military weaponry, which is of growing concern given their hatred of the free world. Their massive army is surely rather superfluous given that modern warfare is fought from a control room with the hallowed red button and manned by rocket scientists. And not one North Korean soldier will ever be allowed to go on any peacekeeping mission anywhere.
The irony of all this is that their latest beloved leader is Kim Jong Un, a rock-star type, who was educated in Switzerland and thus knows all about personal freedom, unlike his cowed subjects whose lives are so controlled that they face execution if they even attempt to make an international telephone call. You can guarantee they do not even know about the internet.
At least our young ones can hero-worship the likes of Justin Bieber and the worst that can befall them is a bad haircut.
Robin Bishop, Pyes Pa
On wrong track
Your editorial opinion ( April 12, 2012) hit the nail on the head with Baypark. It has major traffic issues, is built in the wrong place and is not a rugby-specific stadium. Yes, the Eastern Arterial may eventually put a flyover into Truman Lane at Maungatawa - so what? Had the Clarkson Stadium not been built at Baypark, followed by Crosby's Arena it would not be necessary. Every New Zealander, the taxpayer, will be funding this $30 million piece of roading nonsense just to cater for these gentlemen's delusions of grandeur on what was aptly zoned Drainage Reserve land.
Yes, Joseph Millar, our local 20-year-old elite athlete (the current sprint double men's NZ Champion) went to Australia for the OZ Athletics Championships - no thanks to Athletics NZ or the Tauranga community who couldn't, it seems, raise a couple of thousand dollars to assist him. They would rather fund other things doomed to fail than assist those achievers who get there through their own efforts. Think about that for a moment because this follows on from the Jacko Gill fiasco and it is fair to say Australians would never treat their elite young talent in this offhand way.
Incidentally, Millar ran a close third in the Open Australian Championships 100m men's final and won the 200m men's final.
S. Paterson, Arataki
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