Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and a Mother's Story

WYPR - 88.1 FM Baltimore | By Sheilah Kast,

Published February 3, 2017 at 11:18 AM EST

The American Academy of Pediatrics says drinking alcohol during pregnancy is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual disabilities. The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome -- NOFAS - estimates that upwards of 17,000 school children in Maryland may suffer with the consequences of prenatal exposure to alcohol. We speak to Kathy Mitchell, vice president of NOFAS and the birth mother of a daughter with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am. Originally, she hostedWYPR's Dupont-Columbia University award-winning Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast from 2006 - October2015. She began her career at The Washington Star, where she covered the Maryland and Virginia legislatures, utilities, energy and taxes, as well as financial and banking regulation. She learned the craft of broadcasting at ABC News; as a Washington correspondent for fifteen years, she covered the White House, Congress, and the 1991 Moscow coup that signaled the end of the Soviet empire. Sheilahhas been a substitute host on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday and The DianeRehmShow. She has launched and hosted two weekly interview shows on public TV, one about business and one about challenges facing older people.

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Maureen Harvie

Maureen Harvie is a producer for Midday with Dan Rodricks. She began her career at WYPR as an intern for the newsroom, where she covered issues ranging from medical marijuana to off-shore wind energy.

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