Pregnancy warnings on alcohol products

Women have a right to know if a product is going to cause harm to their unborn child. 

Alcohol is a ‘teratogen’, a known substance that can cause birth defects. Alcohol is the leading cause of non-genetic developmental disability in Australia in the form of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Yet one in four pregnant women in Australia continue to drink alcohol after knowledge of their pregnancy, resulting in approximately 75,000 alcohol exposed pregnancies annually. One reason that women continue to drink is that they are unaware of, or underestimate, the severity of the risk. Our research shows that older pregnant women in particular can be unaware of the potential risks of alcohol for the unborn child. 

On Friday 20 March 2020 the Ministerial Forum, made up of Ministers in Australia and New Zealand considered pregnancy warning labels on alcoholic products. The decision was made to further delay the introduction of pregnancy health warning labels