The owner of a bar decided to install a pregnancy test dispenser inside of the women’s restroom in an effort to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome.
Tom Fredrik, owner of Pub 500, a bar and restaurant in Mankato, Minnesota, agreed to install the machine to allow women to buy a $3 pregnancy test from a vending machine.
A longtime customer of the bar convinced Mr Fredrik to install the machine to help female patrons who may be pregnant think over whether to have a drink.
Jody Allen Crowe, a regular customer at the bar, is an expert in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Those in need of a pregnancy test can get one with the swipe of a debit card at the machine.
Mr Fredrik said that although it’s an unusual purchase, he didn’t hesitate to buy the machine.
‘Strange, yes,’ the owner told KARE-TV. ‘But, it took about 30 seconds to say yes.’
Profits from the tests benefit Mr Crowe’s non-profit organization Healthy Brains for Children.
Mr Crowe said that the tests will be targeted to women over 30 living in urban communities with financial security, the most likely group to drink while pregnant.
He told the news station: ‘If it gives you an informed decision at that point in time to stop drinking, your baby is going to be better for it.’
The new dispenser installed at the bar comes on the heels of a study released this week by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows 1 in 13 pregnant women drink alcohol and some even go on binges.
Of those who said they drank, nearly 1 in 5 said they went on at least one binge — downing four or more drinks.
Pregnant women ages 35 to 44 were the biggest drinkers.
The agency says drinking – especially binge drinking – can damage fetal brain development.
