Today at City Hall, Mayor Steve Black read a proclamation to help raise awareness for the upcoming Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day on September 9th.

“Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a term used to describe a wide range of physical, mental and behavioral effects that can occur when a baby is exposed to alcohol during pregnancy,” said Victoria Hall, from the Porcupine Health Unit. “It’s the main cause of birth defects and developmental delays in the Western world.”

In Canada, it’s estimated that more than 3,000 babies a year are born with FASD, and about 300,000 people are currently living with it.

“In Canada, at least one child is born with FASD a day,” Hall explains, “It’s not curable, but it is preventable.”

The main way to prevent FASD is to avoid alcohol for the duration of pregnancy. To reduce the number of babies born with FASD, it’s important that pregnant women are given support and information about the risks of FASD. And that’s why the awareness of FASD is so important.

“[Our goal is to] provide awareness,” said Elizabeth Lehoux from the Timmins Native Friendship Centre, “to let our community members know that there’s a lot of organizations in Timmins that people can reach out to, and seek help if need be. Not only with FASD resources, but pre-natal and post-natal as well.”

Resources women can seek out include the Porcupine Health Unit, Native Friendship Centre, Metis Nation Ontario, and the Children’s Treatment Centre.

FASD Awareness Day is officially on September 9th, with a minute of reflection at 9:09 am, so that at this time, on the ninth day of the ninth month, the world will remember that during the nine months of pregnancy, a woman should abstain from alcohol.

Some of the women at the proclamation today will also be at the Welcome to Timmins Night tonight, where they will be serving mocktails and handing out recipe cards and information sheets.