“Dispensers at Yukon College, Dirty Northern pub”

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By: Philippe Morin, CBC News, 29 March 2015

Accessed on: 29 March 2015

Commentary by: Sarah Cibart

A few weeks ago Whitehorse became home to a research project out of the University of Alaska Anchorage. The project, funded by the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society Yukon (FASSY), focuses on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD. A major part of the project involves pregnancy test dispensers in washrooms meant to encourage women to ensure they are not pregnant before they consume alcohol. The second piece of this project aims to provide women with education and support surrounding pregnancy and alcohol consumption. The dispenser with pregnancy tests also has a QR Code (smartphone scanner) which links to FASD resources and a survey. If the women complete the survey, they are entered to win a $15 iTunes gift card.

In this article the interviewer speaks with Jessica Fulmer, who lives with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and is a mother herself. Fulmer states that she would have found it much easier to take a pregnancy test in college had the washrooms offered an accessible, affordable, and discreet dispenser. “It is scary to learn you are pregnant”, said Fulmer, “this is one thing that will help break the stigma.”

Wendy Bradly, Director of FASSY, says the pregnancy test dispensers help normalize the process of testing for pregnancy. It is her hope that these dispensers become as normalized as condom dispensers in public washrooms. New and innovative methods of surveying ways to support women in FASD prevention are both valuable and groundbreaking.