Publications

Prenatal alcohol exposure leads to cognitive, behavioral, and neurological deficits in offspring, highlighting the urgent need for effective treatments. Maternal choline supplementation has emerged as a potential intervention. This review examined preclinical and clinical studies on choline supplementation in cases of fetal alcohol exposure to assess its effectiveness. A systematic search of six electronic databases identified 22 relevant studies (including randomized controlled trials, prospective cohort studies, and preclinical research). Choline's success in preventing deficits varied depending on the timing of intervention relative to alcohol exposure. While preclinical studies showed significant improvements across various outcomes, only one clinical study demonstrated benefits in infants' information processing. The findings suggest that choline supplementation may help mitigate deficits caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, particularly in preclinical models. However, further clinical trials are needed to evaluate its broader effectiveness in children.

In the 2009 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking, a guideline specific to lactating women was included. For the first time the effect of alcohol at this important developmental stage was nationally and internationally acknowledged. To determine the degree to which maternal health practitioners adopted an Australian national policy guideline (Guideline 4B) on alcohol and breastfeeding into their everyday health practice and the factors associated with adoption. A convenience sample of participants completed an online survey based on the Nursing Practice Questionnaire (NPQ) to elicit measures of knowledge, awareness and practice implementation.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is often linked to significant challenges in self-regulation. Interventions aimed at improving self-regulation in this population have been developed, but further progress could be achieved through the application of a multilevel theoretical framework that describes the development of self-regulation in early childhood. This framework could clarify the mechanisms underlying early adjustment problems in children with PAE and guide the creation of more targeted assessments and interventions. This review aims to: (1) provide an overview of the self-regulatory framework proposed by Calkins and colleagues, (2) examine common self-regulatory difficulties in children with PAE during infancy and early childhood within this developmental context, and (3) explore how the framework can enhance future assessment and intervention efforts for young children affected by PAE. Applying this developmental framework offers a systematic and theory-based approach to improving outcomes for young children with PAE.

The objective of this study was to explore the differences in baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) between children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and typically developing children (TDC) and to investigate whether children with FASD have the capacity to engage in a brief mindfulness exercise.

This was a retrospective cohort study of women that delivered an infant with an isolated major CHD between January 2010 and April 2017 at a major Australian perinatal centre. The study cohort was compared with a cohort of women with infants without CHD. Cardiac abnormalities were broadly subdivided into the following five categories using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) as a guide – transposition of the great arteries (TGA), septal defects, right heart lesions (RHL), left heart lesions (LHL), and “other”. Demographic characteristics and obstetric, intrapartum, and perinatal outcomes were compared between the two cohorts.

This review aimed to examine the extent and common types of motor impairment present in persons aged over 12 years prenatally exposed to alcohol as evidence for determining the skills that should be assessed and addressed in intervention. Researchers found some evidence that difficulties with fine motor skills, visual motor integration, and balance skills persist in people who have been prenatally exposed to alcohol. However, most studies did not focus on adolescent or adult participants in isolation, making it difficult to generalize results. It was concluded that a review of functional difficulties in each individual would be required to determine if a motor assessment is warranted.