Supporting alcohol-free pregnancy and safe breastfeeding

This course aims to give healthcare professionals the tools, information and confidence to discuss alcohol use in a non-judgemental way with patients who are planning a pregnancy, are already pregnant or breastfeeding.

Background

This course is part of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education's (FARE's) Every Moment Matters, the National Awareness Campaign for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Women. 

The content is based on the National Health and Medical Research Council's Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol and has been developed in collaboration with health professionals and experts in the field.

Course Modules

The course is case based and includes video and self-paced online learning modules. The topics covered include:

• Pregnancy and alcohol
• Summary of the evidence
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
• Brief intervention and motivational interviewing
• Alcohol and breastfeeding

Duration 

1.5 hours of learning

Audience

This course has been designed primarily for General Practitioners, Obstetricians, Midwives and Nurses, however it is suitable for all Health Professionals relevant to a person's pregnancy journey.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course participants will be equipped to:

• recognise the latest evidence about the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and when planning pregnancy, including at low consumption levels
• describe the impacts of alcohol at all phases of pregnancy, including the early weeks
• implement the validated AUDIT-C tool for assessing alcohol consumption during pregnancy
• implement positive reinforcement, brief intervention or referral according to the assessed level of risk
• discuss advice about alcohol during pregnancy or planning pregnancy that is consistent with the Alcohol Guidelines

Partner

This course is bought to you by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and is part of Every Moment Matters, the National Awareness Campaign for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Women.  This project is endorsed and funded by the Australian Government.