Pregnancy and Alcohol Use in Russia

While mothers across the world have come to know the effects of alcohol, many women of childbearing age in Russia have  accepted the risks and not curbed the practice of consuming alcohol during pregnancy. As researchers began to study the cultural attitudes about pregnancy and alcohol use, it became clear that there is very little historical or current research about the topic.

As the figures of FASD and PAE continue to rise, it is worth noting how little research is being conducted. 

"The search revealed a small pool of existing research studies related to PAE and/or FASD in Russia (126: 22 in English and 104 in Russian). Existing epidemiological data indicate a high prevalence of PAE and FASD, which underlines the strong negative impact that alcohol has on mortality, morbidity and disability in Russia. High levels of alcohol consumption by women of childbearing age, low levels of contraception use, and low levels of knowledge by health and other professionals regarding the harmful effects of PAE put this country at great risk of further alcohol-affected pregnancies."

Reference:

Popova S, Yaltonskaya A, Yaltonsky V, Kolpakov Y, Abrosimov I, Pervakov K, Tanner V, Rehm J.  doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agt156

Dr Jane Aronson completed a thorough investigation on the effects of alcohol on children adopted from Russia. Although the statistics are concerning, it  seems that Russia is still not making the effort to thwart the issue. Russia no longer allows Americans to adopt so the information moving forward will not be available. 

Russia

MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia, facing a demographic crisis for about two decades, is spending $1.5 billion to build 32 maternity care centers across dozens of regions “in dire need of support,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday. The centers, to feature advanced facilities for caring for high-risk newborns, will be constructed in 30 regions by 2016, Medvedev said at a meeting in his residence in Gorki, outside Moscow. The country has been dealing with ebbing demographics, including through brain drain and lower birth rates, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia’s population in 2009 grew for the first time in 15 years. The government has been providing $330 a month to mothers with three or more kids since last year, more than double the previous payout, in an effort to boost birth rates. Medvedev expressed hope that the payouts would continue beyond 2016, when the program is slated to expire. The government is also determined to reduce the infant mortality rate from last year’s 8.7 per thousand births to 7.8 per thousand births by 2016. ************************************************* What I know about Russia and its prenatal care, its maternity hospitals, and it's views on infant care are all from personal experience through 2 Russian adoptions. *Abortion is a popular form of birth control. *Abandoning a child at the hospital is quite common. *Prenatal care is for the wealthy. *Maternity Hospitals range from dangerously ill-equipped for the average Russian, to similar to a Western facility. At a high price. *There is a concern in Russia about the falling population. *Life expectancy is lower than that of most other European countries. *The social services are still making the shift from Soviet orphanage style care to foster care systems.. *I will revisit the subject of Russia Often!!

Child Birth

I was in kindergarten. My sister third grade. We were too young to visit the maternity ward, so my grandparents and my father took turns sitting downstairs with us. It was a long day. It might have even been two days. My mom never came down, she stayed by my aunt's side. She was deathly ill. She was trying to give birth to my cousin, but there were many complications. Only now do I realize that they were both almost lost.

There were drugs in her system. What drugs I don't know. Back then, in 1973, I have to believe that most of the drugs that are here now weren't around. But I had always known that my dear Aunti had problems with living like my parents.

And then Darren was born. We couldn't visit. Both he and my aunt were simply exhausted. That was a long time ago, but it was the first and only time I thought of childbirth as being a scary time.

My cousin Darren died at the end of the summer. He was 40. My only cousin on my mother's side. He came into the world surrounded by teams of medical professionals trying their best to give him life. He died the same way.