Pregnancy is a very delicate process. If you think about it most of the women on this earth are of childbearing ages. Once a women finds out she is pregnant, medical care is of vital importance. It is even suggested that if a women is planning on becoming pregnant that they should start healthy habits before conception. Women should go to her gynecologist as soon as she knows that she has become pregnant. To have a healthy baby, the woman needs to have healthy habits throughout the pregnancy. This includes regular checkups, prenatal testing, healthy diet, moderate exercise, plenty of rest, prenatal vitamins and limited stress. If a woman is a smoker, she should stop smoking immediately! If she drinks, she should immediately stop drinking. However, there are many women that continue to use some type of drug while being pregnant. This is unfortunate and unfortunately can really affect their baby, at the time of birth, and as well as later on in the child’s life. Everyone is well aware that the use of any type of drug is not healthy for her fetus, but people still decide to do it. Whether it’s because of an addiction, or not caring. Lets see what the affects are on fetuses with the use of alcohol, cocaine, marijuana tobacco, caffeine, and methamphetamine.
During pregnancy it is said by all doctors not to drink alcohol. Alcohol goes straight through the placenta and into a women’s fetus. Therefore, if a woman is drinking alcohol so is her fetus. The fetus is in constant state of growth and development during the entire pregnancy. The first four weeks of pregnancy, the fetuses heart, central nervous system, eyes, arms and legs are beginning to develop. The brain actually begins to develop during the third week of pregnancy and contin...
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...every woman should be aware of what the effect of drugs can do on her and her fetus and if she is having a problem quitting, to get help immediately! Being honest with your doctor is the best way to go.
Works Cited
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“Crack-babies” a media induced phenomena brought about by the climax of public outcry from the results of the 1980’s war on drugs. This term laid the foundation for biased prosecutions which sparked a political crusade during climate of the time. Thus exploiting the public’s fear of children born to substance addicted mother and creating a firestorm of litigation to prosecute pregnant drug addicts. According to Flavin, Paltrow (2010), current evidence points to public stigmas and prejudice as posing a greater danger to both maternal and fetal health than use of the drug itself. Leaving the question as to why addicted women are still publicly reviled for the outcomes of their circumstances. From this abhorrence stems the likelihood that these women would be deterred from seeking prenatal care than to seek help for their addiction; expelling an even greater issue as the concern of health care is then added to the mix. The complex social issues then must be taken into consideration to underscore the need for policymakers to allow for the legal and medical systems to better create programs for these women and allot for rehabilitation instead of punitive solutions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggestion that a pregnant woman should not drink alcohol during pregnancy (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy 2005) has been widely criticized as being unnecessarily paternalistic, but the CDC goes further into explaining that, “Alcohol consumed during pregnancy increases the risk of alcohol related birth defects, including growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, central nervous system impairment, behavioral disorders, and impaired intellectual development” (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of problems a newborn experiences when exposed to addictive drugs that the mother consumes during pregnancy. NAS is a growing concern in the United States and can have significant adverse effects on newborns. Shortly after birth the infant can display many physical symptoms of withdrawal. In addition, substance abuse during pregnancy can cause premature birth, low birth weight, seizures, birth defects, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and possible long-term cognitive and behavioral problems.
Just as drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and crystal meth affect the mother, it also affects the child. Babies that are born to drug using mothers are called “drug babies” and just like their mother they become addicted to the drugs causing behavior problems during their childhood. They can also have birth defects, premature birth, and are usually underweight. Babies that are born to cocaine using mothers are called “crack babies” and they face the risk of a stroke leading to brain damage. Teratogenic medications such as some antibiotics, cancer fighting medicines, blood thinners, and acne fighting medicines such as Accutane can all cause birth
Abortion can have abounding negative effects on the mother, one of the many being permanent infertility. Most of the time, this only happens if the mother has abundant abortions, but considering there are 40- 50 million abortions per year, the results of infertility is increasing.
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Ornstein, R., Rosen, D., Mammel, K., Callahan, S., Forman, S., Jay, M., Fisher, M., Rome, E., &
For the duration of prenatal development, the unborn offspring may be affected by a multiplicity of teratogens, which are different factors which can have negative effects on the fetus, and can even cause birth defects. While there are countless factors that can affect an unborn child, the most commonly seen teratogens that should be avoided by a pregnant woman including alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. The intake and ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy is the cause of a disorder which is fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause a birth defect which can cause mental and physical disabilities, as well as cardiac defects in the heart for some situations. Some people believe that small amounts of alcohol in moderation can be acceptable, but there are proven facts that show no alcohol should be consumed during any time of pregnancy. Another dangerous teratogen to refrain from is the use of drugs, prescription and illegal. Many kinds of prescription drugs can influence a fetus and can cause physical and
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. Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy Alcohol is an ethanol containing substance that is a common beverage in many social and private settings. Alcohol is also a teratogen, therefore alcohol consumption and binge drinking potentially pose a substantial risk to the embryo or fetus. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control conducted a telephone survey of women in the age range of 18-44 years regarding alcohol use.3
Development is a never ending cycle in life. Each person begins to develop from conception until passing away. Now, while most people think that development starts after birth that is incorrect. Development starts as soon as the baby is conceived. Everything that a woman carrying a baby does or takes place in will translate into the baby. The baby shares a blood flow with the mother. Drugs, even legal drugs, will go into the mother’s blood stream which will then go into the baby’s blood stream. The “maternal blood flows through the uterine arteries to the spaces housing the placenta, and it returns through the uterine vein to the maternal circulation” (Santrock, 2012, p. 80). This means that anything that enters into the blood stream will also affect the baby. Each type of drug is under a certain category. Psychoactive drugs are drugs that are constantly being studier. According to Santrock (2012), psychoactive drugs are drugs that act on the nervous system to alter states of consciousness, modify perception, and change moods. (p.83). They come in three categories: stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens. Stimulants include caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamine and nicotine. Some people say that pregnant woman do not know what taking these into their system is doing to their baby. Stimulants are becoming more popular and there effects need to be studied and known. Each stimulant affects the baby in short-term and long-term.
...just being around a person that does can cause harm to a mother’s fetus. Women need to know that smoking can cause miscarriages, premature birth, and other damage to a baby. Before women that smoke decide to make the decision of getting pregnant, they should research all the harmful effects that smoking has on a fetus. If pregnant smokers were to halt tobacco use a total of 986 infant deaths would be averted annually. This validates the need for infusion of more resources into existing smoking cessation campaigns in order to achieve higher quit rates, and substantially diminish current levels of smoking-associated infant deaths (Salihu, Aliyu, Pierre-Louis, & Alexander, 2003). The only way a woman can avoid pregnancy complications associated with smoking is to quit and she should also avoid others who smoke in order to avoid the dangers of second hand smoke.