Behind the screen: legal and ethical considerations in neonatal screening for prenatal exposure to alcohol.

In a recent Motherisk Clinical Practice Update published in Canadian Family Physician, the authors presented the following question from a family physician: “ I have several patients whom I suspect are drinking during pregnancy. How can I find out for sure if they are?” 1 In response, the Motherisk Update advised the use of brief standardised alcohol-use questionnaires that can be used to screen women for risk drinking during pregnancy, and of a screen that can be conducted using an infant’s first stool that may be indicative of prenatal alcohol exposure. The Update acknowledged that clinicians do not routinely ask patients about alcohol use.