Judging from the comments on this story, most people think it’s a pretty silly idea. But a not-for-profit group in forward-leaning Minnesota (I should know, I lived there for one winter), has placed 100 pregnancy test vending machines in local bars.
The idea behind it is simple. Most people know that drinking alcohol when pregnant can harm an unborn child. But what if you’re pregnant and don’t know it? So Healthy Brains for Children, a group in Minneapolis, Minn., dedicated to allowing women who could be pregnant the ability to find out before they order that Cosmo, is locating these machines in bars – and, potentially, across the globe.
Although comments on this story ranged from too much do-gooderism to questioning the hand-eye coordination of those who are drunk, women who suspect they might be pregnant would have an easy way to find out before consuming any alcohol, ultimately potentially decreasing birth defects – the number one contributing factor to developmental disabilities and defects.
ABC News said in July that one in 13 women drink while pregnant, a study has shown. In that same study, it was found that older U.S. women are more likely to drink.
Surprisingly, unexpected pregnancies occur in “over 30 percent of married women and over 70 percent of 20-29 year old women,” the Health Brains for Children said. “Unexpected pregnancies are at a high risk for prenatal exposure to alcohol that can cause lifelong damage to the fetus,” they added.
The dispensers aren’t money-makers for the bars. In fact, all earnings coming from the sale of the tests go back to Healthy Brains for Children. Still, Pub 500, a bar in Mankato, Minn., the first to install the vending machine, “is offering a service that some experts believe could help curb Fetal Alcoholism Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) as a result of alcohol consumption during pregnancy,” a report stated.
Even as little as one glass of wine a day during pregnancy – something that hasn’t been strictly disavowed by all doctors – affects a child’s growth for nine years, and can result in reduced height, weight, and head circumference, an indicator of brain growth, according to the study’s lead author Robert Carter, MD.
So if you’re pregnant, or thinking of becoming pregnant, it’s a great idea to put the alcohol away. And wait for that glass of champagne the day your baby is born, healthy and screaming his head off.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
