Despite clear evidence that primary prevention of FASD is possible if prenatal alcohol exposure is avoided, up to 80 % of women drink during pregnancy, many before pregnancy recognition [15–17]. Contributing substantially to this early drinking is the high frequency of unplanned pregnancies, at least 30 % [18]. Even if a woman stops drinking as soon as she discovers she is pregnant, she may have been drinking, perhaps binge drinking, in a critical period of embryogenesis. While not drinking is the safest option, these data show that many women of childbearing age do not abstain from alcohol simply because there is a chance they could become pregnant.
