Every Moment Matters – An evidence-based FASD prevention campaign for Australia

Every Moment Matters is a nation-wide health promotion campaign launched in Australia which shares the latest evidence-based information about alcohol during pregnancy and breastfeeding. See www.everymomentmatters.org.au/.

The messages

The messages about alcohol use in pregnancy and FASD include:

• Every moment matters when it comes to alcohol – whether you are planning a pregnancy, currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Planning a pregnancy is an exciting time. It’s also a great opportunity to go alcohol-free. Make the moment you start trying the moment to stop drinking alcohol.
  • The “planning a pregnancy” section includes
    • information about how alcohol affects fertility, the risk for miscarriage, and how the placenta is not a barrier to alcohol
    • ideas for action, when sharing information with friends, and finding help
• All parents want to give their baby the best start in life, which is why it’s important not to drink any alcohol during pregnancy.
  • The “currently pregnant” section includes
    • information about how alcohol passes directly to the developing baby and can damage their brain, body and organs (FASD)
    • ideas for action to garner support from partners friends and family and for talking to a doctor, midwife or obstetrician
• When breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest for the health of your baby.
  • The “when breastfeeding” section includes
    • information about how alcohol enters breastmilk, noting how when there is alcohol in one’s blood, it is also in their breastmilk
    • strategies to avoid exposure when a choice is made to drink alcohol while breastfeeding

All sections of the website contain many helpful facts about alcohol and pregnancy and breastfeeding, how women can make a change in alcohol use, and how to support someone who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy. And there are links to a multitude of resources: www.everymomentmatters.org.au/resources/

The underlying research

This campaign has the most solid background research of any undertaken to date. The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) commissioned research to ground the campaign that involved:

• A literature review and review of previous campaigns implemented in countries around the world, in order to establish best practice approaches to a campaign such as this.
• Research to understand attitudes, perceptions of risk, and understanding of the issues by people in Australia, to identify potentially effective messages and framing of messages. This research included women who were pregnant, planning a pregnancy (in the next 2 years) or who might become pregnant, through an online survey, virtual focus group discussions, online journey mapping forums and virtual in-depth interviews.

Very comprehensive findings from this research guided the creation and testing of messaging for the campaign so that the messages would ‘grab attention’, contain information that was personally relevant to various segments of the population and be persuasive so that women would avoid alcohol during pregnancy.

Learn more about the research and its impact

The sponsors of the campaign, FARE, are hosting a webinar on Dec 8^th (in Australia) entitled Behind the Scenes of Every Moment Matters where they will explore some of the key elements of this ground-breaking national health promotion campaign. Members of the campaign team will share insights into the formative research, message testing, creative approach, media strategy, engagement of health professionals in the campaign, and its impact to date.

This event is for people working in health promotion, public health policy, social marketing, the alcohol and other drugs sector, behaviour change, or evaluation design. 

See https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/behind-the-scenes-of-every-moment-matters-tickets-439430427237