FASD – First Scientific Sudy
The first scientific study conducted regarding FASD was done by Dr. William Sullivan in 1899 in Liverpool England. Sullivan compared the mortality rate of offspring of “female drunkards” with that of the offspring of their sober female relatives. He discovered that the death rate of “drunkards” children was 2.5 times greater than death rate of the sober relatives. Sullivan’s study was rejected by the scientific community of the day as being “simplistic and moralistic”
It was not until 1793 that the scientific community recognized the problems caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Since then awareness of this neurological tragedy has been growing.
It is now a widely accepted fact the alcohol is a “teratogen” (a substance that disrupts normal fetal development and causes birth defects).