She has long been an ambassador for the Pregnant Pause campaign, and now Canberra media identity Kristen Davidson is living the message, ready to give birth to her first child in August.
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A new campaign begins today, encouraging ACT businesses and organisations to become Pregnant Pause Community Heroes and join a growing network that supports mums-to-be having alcohol-free pregnancies.
Pregnant Pause is a thriving community of pregnant women and their partners, support people, families and friends, focused on support and awareness that there is no "safe" amount of drinking, no "safe" alcohol-strength and no "safe" time during pregnancy to drink alcohol.
The ACT Pregnant Pause Community Hero campaign will be launched on Thursday by Ambassador and 106.3FM host Kristen Davidson and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE).
Kristen is excited that Pregnant Pause is connecting with the Canberra business community and other organisations to widen the support network around local mums-to-be, who give birth to around 6000 babies every year in the ACT.
"We know it takes a village to raise a child and Pregnant Pause is connecting with organisations who reach out to pregnant women, so that everyone in the community is on board with the important message that alcohol-free pregnancies are the way to go," she said.
The Pregnant Pause campaign is an initiative of FARE, supported by the ACT government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program.
The National Health and Medical Research Council's alcohol guidelines say women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy should not drink any alcohol. This is because alcohol can cause miscarriage, still or premature birth, low birth weights and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Yet there are still many mixed messages in the community about how much alcohol is safe during pregnancy.
Kristen agrees. "I've been an ambassador for Pregnant Pause for a while now and I have always understood it, but now being a mum for the very first time this year, I get it, I feel it," she said.
"I feel those mixed messages, and it all comes from a beautiful place, but every single woman and support person has a different experience when it comes to pregnancy. And they want to share because they love you, but those messages aren't always in line with the drinking guidelines."
FARE chief executive Caterina Giorgi says Pregnant Pause is hoping to connect ACT organisations and businesses, creating a territory-wide network of supportive environments.
"The Pregnant Pause Community Heroes campaign aims to make the alcohol-free pregnancy journey a little easier by building a safe and welcoming environment for women who are pregnant to be alcohol-free. Not only do we have more information for mums-to-be and their family and friends seeking advice on alcohol and pregnancy, but this information will now be better shared and understood across the community," Ms Giorgi said.
"Whether you're a wellness spa, restaurant, cafe, sports club, gym, gallery, early learning centre or a doctor's surgery - Pregnant Pause welcomes you as a Community Hero for our mums-to-be.
"It's important that we share a consistent message about the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy, and we thank the ACT government for its continuing support of the Pregnant Pause campaign."
Kristen says being pregnant while being the Pregnant Pause Ambassador means she completely believes in the potential for the Community Hero campaign to turn into a wonderful supportive community network.
"I wanted to jump on board again this year and say 'You're not left out, we are all in this together, and we can still have those celebrations but we don't have to have it with alcohol, there's a whole range of different options'," she said.
"'And if you are feeling stressed and you are feeling hormonal, and you are reaching for a drink there are support networks and systems out there for you, and there is no shame, there is no judgment and we are all in this together.'"
Businesses and organisations are encouraged to sign up to become Community Heroes by visiting pregnantpause.com.au.
Kristen, meanwhile, says at 30 weeks she is "tired and [has] struggled to slow down, but everything is on track".
She and husband Iain have just moved from an apartment in Kingston to a new home in Griffith, and now it's all about shopping for the baby. They've bought a bassinet and this weekend it is the overload of choice that is pram shopping.
