A council in the North West of England has lost its legal case to claim compensation for a child born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome from its mother.

The unnamed council had tried to secure compensation to pay for the child’s care by arguing the mother had committed a crime under the Offences Against the person Act 1861 by drinking during pregnancy.

Charities had warned a ‘dangerous’ legal precedent could be set if the council won its case by criminalising the behaviour of pregnant women.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Rebecca Schiller, co-chair of Birthrights, said: ‘This is an extremely important ruling for women everywhere. The UK’s highest courts have recognised that women must be able to make their own decisions about their pregnancies.

‘Any ruling which found that drinking while pregnant constituted a ‘crime of violence’ could have paved the way to the criminalisation of pregnant women’s behaviour – an alarming prospect given the ever expanding list of activities women are warned may pose a risk to the health of their baby.'

The charities said resources should be found to support children with this condition to avoid councils having to seek compensation through the courts. They also said pregnant women with a drinking problem should be given access to treatment rather than face prosecution.

Victoria Cassidy, a solicitor in the health and social care team at law firm Weightmans LLP, said the ruling showed the courts were still weighting their decision in favor of the mother.

She said: ‘Had the decision gone the other way, then the mothers of these children would have risked criminal sanction for disclosing problems with drug and alcohol addiction, whilst pregnant.

'For local authorities tasked with protecting both vulnerable mothers and children, the court’s direction is clear, the emphasis should be placed on engaging with these mothers, educating and supporting them to tackle the addiction, rather than seeking to criminalise them.’