More than 2,000 children are born every year in Ventura County after exposure to alcohol, tobacco or illegal substances during pregnancy. Since 2003, Ventura County Public Health has partnered with Ventura County prenatal care providers to use the 4Ps Plus Screening Tool, a nationally recognized program that helps identify women at risk for using alcohol, tobacco and illegal substances during pregnancy.
Over the past nine years, more than 20,000 pregnant women have been screened. In 2011, 19.3 percent of those screened admitted to using alcohol, tobacco or an illegal drug during the month before they knew they were pregnant. According to the Center for Disease Control, exposure to alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of preventable birth defects today. As many as 1 in 100 Americans may be living with the effects of maternal drinking in pregnancy, known collectively as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
Alcohol use during pregnancy crosses all socioeconomic boundaries, and it is estimated that the lifetime cost to the taxpayers for individuals with FASDs is almost $2 million per person. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are entirely preventable by abstaining from alcohol and drugs during conception and pregnancy.
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