Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention: Creating Health Literacy Awareness About the
Effects of Alcohol to the Unborn Child
Alcohol consumption among pregnant women is a growing problem not only in the U.S. but also to the rest of the world. Billions are spent treating birth defects and other symptoms related to prenatal alcohol drinking. Statistics done shows that treatment of the disorder costs the U.S. 6 billion dollars annually (Burd & Hardwood, 2004); adjust that to the current inflation rate and it could be as high as 8 million dollars. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Community Resource Center came up with $5.4 million dollars as the estimated expected lifetime costs for one child with FAS disorder in 2003. This includes direct cost (surgical corrections of FAS related birth defects, heart and auditory defects and moderate to severe mental retardation) and indirect cost (healthcare, special education, psychotherapy, counseling, crime and welfare). These extremely high costs clearly justify major prevention efforts not only from the government but also from the public. To achieve this goal, the public and the community must be educated about FAS, woman of child-bearing age; especially teenagers and school age children should and must be informed about the effects of alcohol on an unborn child before they even discover alcohol on their own (Donnelly, Mowery, & McCarver, 1998).
We begin by creating awareness of the problems through educational campaigns. “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Florida Resource Guide,” a brochure produced jointly by the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida State University Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy has this to say about F...
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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Florida Resource Guide (n.d.) Retrieved January 26, 2011 from http://fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/document/ FASDGuide12_021.pdf
The Economic Cost of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS Community Resource Center 2003. Retrieved January 26, 2011 from http://www.fascenter.samhsa.gov.publications/economic cost.
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.
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... 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.
Pregnant women who drink often miscarry or have low-birth weight infants, and are at a much greater risk of having a child who has fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can include heart defects, poor coordination, hyperactive behavior; learning and developmental disabilities, and mental retardation. These problems are long term and also come with physical deformities like a narrow head, smaller eyes, and stunted growth. These effects are more common to women who are either heavy drinkers or binge drinkers.
Assessing patient’s knowledge of the negative effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is most important step of a nursing process. It will lay a foundation for developing a nursing diagnosis and setting up goals with the only one outcome in mind-a healthy baby. We know now that even small amount of alcohol can cause birth defects, and for that reason patients need to be educated and aware of the negative effects alcohol will have on their baby if they chose to drink during pregnancy.
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...
Merrick J, Merrick E, Morad M, Kandel I. (2006). Fetal alcohol syndrome and its long-term effects. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Faculty of Health Sciences Jun;58(3):211-8.
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
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...
The term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, also known as FASD, is an umbrella term used to describe a range of adverse effects caused by maternal intake of alcohol while the fetus is in utero. Under the Canadian diagnostic guidelines FASD includes the diagnostic terms ‘fetal alcohol syndrome’ (FAS), ‘partial fetal alcohol syndrome’ (pFAS), ‘alcohol-related Neurodevelopmental disorders’ (ARND), ‘fetal alcohol effects’ (FAE), and ‘alcohol-related birth defects’ (ARBD). These conditions manifest themselves in the form of developmental disorders, weight and height deficiencies and a specific set of facial characteristics to varying degrees. While many characteristics of FASD are well understood, the vast majority are still being researched. This leads to vast information gaps especially when concerned with Aboriginal populations globally notably in Canada and Australia.
Alcohol, also known as ethanol, is a legal substance, which causes a person to become relaxed and “care-free”. Once alcohol is consumed, it is released into the bloodstream, which causes the brain to react, causing side effects. When a woman drinks alcohol while being pregnant, it can cause some physical and mental damage to the fetus. When a fetus is affected by alcohol exposure, it is called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). If the affects are severe, it is then termed Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The abnormalities occur in the central nervous system, facial structure, growth, and neurobehavioral development of the child. Severity of the damage depends on the amount of consumption, frequency, and timing of the consumption (Ungerer, Knezovich and Ramsay, 2013). Approximately 1 in 100 births have FASD effects. In the United States, 2-7 out of 1000 births are affected by FAS. 2-5% of young children in the United States and Western Europe are affected by FASD, while in Italy, the rate of FASD is 20.3-40.5 per 1000 births (Riley, Infante, Warren, 2011). These results are happening because 10-20% of women in the United States, 40% in Uruguay, and 50% of Italy consume alcohol while pregnant (Valenzuela, Morton and Diaz, 2012).
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a disorder that causes physical, mental, and learning problems. FAS is caused by drinking of alcohol during pregnancy when the baby is exposed to alcohol in the womb.
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...
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are identified as a category of birth disorders caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. These can include physical or intellectual anomalies, such as cardiac, skeletal, visual, aural, and fine or gross motor problems. (Callanan, 2013) Prevention would involve alcohol use prevention programs for women who are pregnant, and treatment for FAS and FASD would be aimed at helping those affected realize their full potential through both family and individual interventions. While there is no cure for FAS or FASD, appropriate treatments can aide individuals with these diagnoses to minimize the effects.
“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.