Is 'herbal health tonic' safe in pregnancy; fetal alcohol syndrome revisited.

So called 'Herbal Health Tonics' are freely available in the market. This has been promoted by the manufacturers for the following symptoms: poor appetite, gastroenteric weakness, poor blood circulation, chills, fatigue, weak constitution and weakness after disease. We report a case of suspected fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). A baby boy of 3,700 g born to a 29-year-old Chinese mother at 41 weeks' gestation was found to have features consistent with FAS. On follow up at 3 years of age, both motor and mental milestones as well as speech and language were delayed suggesting the possibility of FAS. There was a history of maternal ingestion of 'Herbal Health Tonic' (which contained 14% alcohol) daily for the first 2 months of the antenatal period. She denied exposure to alcohol or any other drugs. The authors would like to highlight the risk of such 'Herbal Health Tonics' in pregnancy and their probable deleterious effects on the growing fetus. We feel that it is extremely important to look into the traditional practices among pregnant women in Singapore and in other parts of the world where there are similar practices, otherwise more cases like these could occur in future.