Dr. George Carson, director of maternal fetal medicine for the Regina Qu’Apelle Health Region, will present the results of the study which was published in 2010.
“It’s not appropriate to say to women that all drinking is bad,” said Dr. Carson, in light of the study which reveals a threshold of safe blood alcohol content that pregnant women can reach without causing harm to their fetus.
Dr. Carson still cautioned that women should know their drinking habits and “be prudent” about maintaining low alcohol levels throughout the pregnancy. He said women who are trying to conceive should still abstain.
The study was co-authored by Dr. Carson and 12 other doctors from around Canada, including Dr. Marie-Jocelyne Martel from Saskatoon.
While the study indicates that low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are safe, the main objective, as described in the publication, is “to establish national standards of care for the screening and recording of alcohol use and counselling on alcohol use of women of child-bearing age and pregnant women based on the most up-to-date evidence”.
“We always have a very wide variety of topics,” said Jaclyn Pukas, one organizer of the event who works at the Perinatal Outreach Program in the Regina Qu’Apelle Health Region.
The conference, scheduled for March 15 to 17 in Regina, is for healthcare professionals already working in the field of obstetrics and paediatrics. It is a joint undertaking between the Regina Qu’Apelle Health Region and the University of Saskatchewan.
Hundreds of healthcare professionals from across the province are expected to attend.
Birthing options, hypno-birth, new breastfeeding recommendations, Canada’s refugee population and accommodating culturally relevant care, reproductive aging and infertility issues, delayed cord clamping, and laughter therapy are just some of the issues on the agenda this year.
Elise Thomsen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) is a contributing reporter and photographer at the University of Regina's School of Journalism Newswire for the weekly papers of Saskatchewan. She is from Michigan originally but has lived in Saskatchewan for a few years now. She worked as an intern at Jamac Publishing in Kindersley, writing for four weekly papers, and at The Weyburn Review. She will graduate this spring with a special interest in reporting on human rights issues, the arts, and anything that deeply impacts her community.
