When a woman is pregnant it is recommended that she does not consume any alcohol. If a woman does consume alcohol during the pregnancy she can cause a disorder called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Rank, J.). In 1968, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was characterized by P. Lamoine and colleagues form Nantes. They reported their findings in the French pediatric journal but unfortunately it didn’t draw to much attention. Five years later, in 1973, it was characterized again by K.L. Jones and colleagues in Seattle. Unlike the report in 1968 that wasn’t a success, this report in the British medical journal, The Lancet, triggered a great amount of reporters of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Perlstein, David, MD, FAAP). The disorder is characterized by brain problems, abnormal facial features, growth defects, and organ defects (Rank, J.) Alcohol is considered a teratogen and is the most common cause of mental retardation. “According to research published in Pediatrics, alcohol use among women of childbearing age (18-44 years) constitutes a leading, preventable cause of birth defects and development disabilities in U.S.” (Perlstein, David, MD, FAAP). Even though the disorder is preventable, the defects are not irreversible or unchangeable (Mayo Clinic Staff).
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome differs in each individual that is diagnosed with it. Unfortunately, 20% of babies have been exposed to alcohol because of the mother’s decision during the pregnancy (An Individual’s Place). Besides the 20% of babies that are exposed to alcohol, 1 out of 100 babies or 40,000 babies that are born have been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Rank, J.). Those babies that have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome grow up and become “the forgotten kids”. The children can do everyth...
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...t as the individual seeks to become independent, successful in school or employment, and develop satisfying social relationships” (Rank, J.).
Works Cited
Buddy, T. “Secondary Conditions Associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.” About.com. (30 Oct 2010): 19 April 2011. http://alcoholism.about.com/of/fas/a/fas_conditions.htm
March of Dimes Foundation. “Drinking Alcohol during Pregnancy.” March of Dimes, Working Together for Stronger, Healthier Babies. 5 April 2011. http://www.marchofdimes.come/pregnancy/alcohol_indepth.html
“Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.” Alcohol as a Teratogen-Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (8 Dec. 2003): 5 April 2011. http://people.uwec.edu/pierceh/fas/fas...htm
“An Individual’s Place, and Success, in Society is Almost Entirely Determined by Neurological Functioning.” Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. 13 April 2011. http://www.faslink.org/fasmain.htm
A mother who drinks while she is pregnant stands a high risk of harming their unborn child because the alcohol passes through her blood to her baby, and that can harm the development of the baby’s cells. This is most likely to harm the baby’s brain and spinal cord. Many of the common effects of a child suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is: distinctive facial features, growth problems making them smaller than the average child, and learning and behavior problems.
... excluded potential risk factors for preterm birth including previous pregnancies and multiple births. Thus, these results should only be applied to the risk of alcohol consumption for primiparous mothers with singleton pregnancies. However, despite the lack of risks identified in this study, alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to disabilities. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 2011), its adverse effects include fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities, social ineptness, depression, and anxiety. The AACAP strongly recommends against pregnant women consuming any form of alcohol at any level. Despite the data presented by Dale et al. (2016), the question of the other risks of alcohol consumption on the fetus was not explored and thus alcohol use during pregnancy should not be condoned solely based on this study.
There is no known safe amount of alcohol a woman can drink while pregnant. Alcohol can cause life-long physical and behavioral problems in children, including fetal alcohol syndrome. FAS is a serious condition where babies can be born with mentally ill condition and may have deformation mainly in there face. When you consume alcohol during pregnancy, so does your baby, because alcohol passes freely through the placenta to your baby. If you choose to drink alcohol while you are pregnant, you will increase the risk that your baby will be born with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition in a child that results from alcohol exposure during the mother 's pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome causes brain damage and growth problems. The problems caused by fetal alcohol syndrome vary from child to child, but defects caused by fetal alcohol syndrome are
“Can I consume even a miniscule amount of alcohol?” a common, yet preposterous question asked by numerous pregnant women. The common answer given by doctors is yes, you may. Many women don’t know, but according to nofas.org, women who drink as little as two glasses of wine per day can adversely affect their offspring’s effectiveness at school. According to the Institute of Medicine 1996, “Of all the substances of abuse (including heroin, cocaine,and marijuana), alcohol by far produces the most neurobehavioral effects in the fetus”. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a possible outcome of drinking while pregnant. This horrid disease can cause aberrant facial characteristics, growth deficits, brain damage that results in mental retardation, hyperactivity,
Women who are pregnant, but drink moderate amounts of alcohol still pose many dangerous threats to their unborn child. A fetal alcohol effect is one of them, with slight deformities, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. Fetal alcohol effected children not only have physical differences from normal children, but also suffer with psychiatric problems and at more apt to get in trouble with the law. Pregnant women who drink not only run the risk of having a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome, but of having a child with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder occurs when children have prenatal exposure to alcohol. These babies have cognitive and behavioral problems that are alcohol-related, without the severe facial or growth deformities babies with fetal alcohol syndrome have. Pregnant women who drink expose their baby to teratogen ethanol- the active ingredient in alcohol. The fetus exposure is longer and more intense compared to the mother who is able to metabolize the teratogen ethanol.
For many years it was believed that alcohol can affect an unborn child only after placenta and umbilical cord are fully developed. Ten to fourteen days after fertilization the egg arrives into the uterus, and nests there. In that phase there is no connection between a mother’s bloodstream and a child via umbilical cord, but while placenta is developing embryo is getting its nutrients from mother’s blood through yolk sac. The minute alcohol enters mother’s bloodstream trough her stomach and the small intestine, it will also get to the embryo by cellular processes and it will disturb the cell division.
The intake of drugs and alcohol during pregnancy can cause many different birth defects. Drugs and alcohol can easily reach the baby while inside the mother. When a pregnant woman consumes a drug or some alcohol it enters into her bloodstream, then makes its way to the placenta. When it reaches the placenta it travels through the umbilical cord to the baby’s body (Schniderman pg. 27). Once it reaches the bay it can cause a lot of different problems. Drinking alcohol can cause the baby to be born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. If too much alcohol gets into the baby’s bloodstream the baby will most likely have FAS. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can affect an infant after it is born or even later on in life. Kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can be impulsive at times, and they tend to not learn from their own mistakes and behavior unlike other children (Stewart pg. 47). Having a child with FAS could be very hard. They have difficulties trying to learn certain things. Learning from mistakes make life so much easier, and having a child who cannot do that could be very stressful. Many people put the...
Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of developmental and physical birth defects in the United States. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price, in mental and physical deficiencies, for his or her entire life. One study (Phyllis Trujillo Lewis, MA, Philip A. May, PhD, and Virginia C. Shipman, PhD, 2007) asserted that “Numerous studies on alcohol-related birth defects have concluded that maternal drinking, compounded by other risk factors, leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS is a serious birth defect and the most common non-genetic cause of mental retardation” as said by (Hankin, 2002; Abel & Sokol,1986; O’Connor, Kogan, & Findlay, 2002; May & Gossage, in press). It is unknown how much maternal alcohol consumption results in FAS or other related disorders, or why some women who drink are at substantially higher risk of giving birth to a child with alcohol-related disabilities than others (Stratton, Howe, & Battaglia, 1996). However, researchers have identified several maternal risk factors differentially associated with FAS. These include advanced maternal age, number of pregnancies, previous births of a child with FAS, cohabitation with a male partner who drinks heavily, and low socioeconomic status (SES; May et al. 2004; 2008a; Viljoen et al., 2002). FAS is 100% preventable, which makes awareness and education the core preventative method for FAS. It is seen through Lewis, May & Shipman’s research that women who are less educated are less aware of the risks involved with drinking while pregnant.
Thousands of children are born with effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Alcohol is very dangerous to the child in the womb. In the U.S, prenatal exposure is the most common reason for birth defects. Alcohol during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal alcohol syndrome, birth weight, preterm labor, and brain damage.
Chudley, A., Conry, J., Cook, J., Loock, C., Rosales, T., & LeBlanc, N. (2005). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Canadian Guidelines for Diagnosis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 172(5). doi:10.1503/cmaj.1040302
"The Effects of Alcohol on the Developing Brain." Women's Health Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. .
Multiple studies have found that FAS is the single most common cause of mental retardation that is completely preventable. When alcohol is consumed during pregnancy it acts as a teratogen, which means it is a substance that interferes with growth and development, and is capable of causing birth defects such as hearing loss, vision loss, reduced cognitive ability, and motor skill deficiencies. Flattened mid-face, short nose and a thinner upper lip are also common physical abnormalities (Tangient LLC, 2014). When consumed, alcohol from the mother’s bloodstream crosses easily into the fetal bloodstream. Because of their size, the unborn baby has a lower capability to metabolize the alcohol, thus it remains in its system for a longer period of time and can result in...
In both Canada and Australia the number of babies born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders has been increasing drastically.
Children can be effected by their caregiver’s alcohol and substance abuse in numerous ways. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a pattern of birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome tend to have physical abnormalities such as deformed facial characteristics. They are generally born with a variety of emotional and/or intellectual limitations. It is very common for these children to...
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!” A child has most likely heard that phrase at some point in their life. Although, it is not ethical or legal for a mother to “take her kid out of this world”, it does bring up a good point that it was through her body, that the child was born. One of the most important responsibilities in this world is a mother carrying a child in the womb. There are many divine processes that take place during gestation, but there are also many contributing factors from the mother that can affect the developing human. These factors may include what a woman ingests and exposes her embryo or fetus to. Sadly, alcohol use during pregnancy is an ongoing problem that can have detrimental affects on the fetus, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Choosing to drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy is a choice, a risky choice. Unfortunately some women don’t even know they are making a risky choice by consuming alcohol because it is in the early stages of pregnancy. It is common for a female to not find out they are pregnant until at least the fifth or sixth week after fertilization. In 2006, 49% of all pregnancies in the United States were reported unintended on a national survey.1 The highest rate of preventable birth defects and mental retardation is due to alcohol use.2 In this paper, I will further discuss FAS, the potential effects of binge drinking during the embryonic stage of gestation, and what actions need to be taken in order to reduce the incidences of alcohol related birth defects.