I just saw the show that featured Caroline a (8 month pregnant woman). I cannot believe that Curtis served her wine with her dinner. Has he ever heard of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders! The American Pediatrics association, the march of dimes,the CDC, the ARC of the USA, all suggest zero alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol during pregnancy causes lifelong brain damage. It cannot be fixed. So why do I care? I am the adoptive mother of a 17 yr old that has this disorder. She is a 17yr old that has very little function of her frontal lobe,(behaves like a 10 yr old) ie she makes poor decisions, has poor memory, does not understand cause/effect principles, cannot keep a job, has ADHD, a mood disorders....etc ALL because Biological mom drank Alcohol.
WISE UP TLC

Kellie in AZ

Curtis lived in England for 10 years where the predominating belief by doctors is that a drink every once in awhile (ie. 2-3 drinks a week) has no detrimental effect on fetal development. The presence of FAS is predominantly from mothers who are out of control alcoholics or are getting ripping drunk on a daily basis. I used to live in a city where FAS was epidemic and when you met the mother, she was pretty much always drunk and always pregnant and more often than not had a drug problem on top of it. Yes, poverty was an issue much of the time and the occasional inter-family marriage (ewww), but the North American approach to alcohol and pregnancy differs from that in Europe. Please research the subject a little further next time before ripping a television network.

In reply to all. I had worked previously with someone who was pregnant and this is not the first time I have heard this. Anyway when she was going into labor she called the doctor and he told her to take a glass of wine and relax and come into the hospital and that is what she did. Three hours later she had a healthy, baby and the child is still healthy still to this day. I do not drink but, I guess a glass of wine could not hurt anyone and had no effects on the child but, calmed down the mother and she actually had a relaxed and easy birth of her first child. This is in the state of New York, USA.

Thanks for your comments and by the way I have done the research as well as raised an adopted child with this devastating disorder. While binge drinking causes full FAS, light drinking can cause Fetal Alcohol Effects in which a child does not have the facial characteristics but has the same disabilities as full FAS. The Experts Dr Ed Riley, Dr Ann Striessguth, the CDC, the Arc, the APA and the march of dimes maintain that zero alcohol is recommended during pregnancy. Alcohol is one of the substances that goes straight to the placenta and the fetus's liver cannot metabolize alcohol so it goes to the brain and starts eating away at it.

My problem with this TV Program airing is that some pregnant women may take it too far and think its ok to drink all the time. "Alcohol is the #1 cause of mental retardation in our country"(March of Dimes)

It would seem that Kellie has done her homework, and the others need to read up on this. I'm not trying to snipe...seriously, google or go to Wikipedia and read up on it yourself. ZERO alcohol.

straight from the Wikipedia article:
"no amount of alcohol during pregnancy can be guaranteed to be absolutely safe"

There are studies that show that "a small amount of alcohol might not pose a risk"....hmmm, "might" not? Doesn't sound like an endorsement to me.

I agree totally. However I do not blame Curtis.....where was the mothers brain? Any mother-to-be, in her 8th month should have known better. Although I am in my 60's and when I was having my children, thibngs like drinking were not even stressed. I didn't drink anyway and as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I quit smoking. Today though things are different. I think from the very beginning Dr. stress what not to do, at least they did where all of my grandchildren are concerned. If a woman can't say no to drinking, I wonder just what kind of a mother she will be !!!!!

Jodi
Grand Rapids, Mi