Both the local authority and the young girl cannot be named.
If the Court of Appeal agrees that the mother committed a crime, the ruling could lead to the criminalisation of taking necessary medication or refusing a caesarean section, campaigners have warned.
The lawyer acting on behalf
of the council, Neil Sugarman, told Sky News that the court case was not aiming
to criminalise pregnant women who drink.
But he said: "The mum
was drinking excessively and was warned not to - so we believe it's a crime as
set down by the definition of the scheme."
The compensation would be
paid by the taxpayer, not the child's mother.
The case will be heard at
the Court of Appeal on Wednesday with a ruling expected at a later date.
Campaigner Susan Fleisher
adopted her daughter Addie - now 27 - when she was three-years-old.
It was years later that she
was diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), caused by her birth-mother
drinking alcohol while pregnant.
Ms Fleisher said:
"When she was 11, I was at a conference for adoptive parents and they
started talking about FAS and my daughter had all the traits; the facial
features, the learning difficulties.
"It's a long list, and
I thought 'could this be what my daughter has?' It was caused by alcohol."
Following her daughter's
diagnosis, Ms Fleischer set up the charity National Organisation for Foetal
Alcohol Syndrome UK, which provides support to the families of and those with
FAS.
Despite her daughter's
condition, Ms Fleischer doesn't back the idea of criminalising drinking while
pregnant.
She said: "No mother
intentionally harms her child.
"Women do it either
out of ignorance, either they haven't been told, their husbands encourage them
to drink or they have a problem with alcohol."
Sky news
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