HEALTH TOPICS

For many women, pregnancy can cause a total shift in lifestyle, hobbies, and choice of food and drink. Although many individuals enjoy an alcoholic beverage from time to time, drinking during pregnancy can cause a number of complications for an unborn baby. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) poses a problem for any unborn child whose mother drinks while pregnant. Nearly 40,000 babies are born with some sort of alcohol-related damage each year in the U.S.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is dangerous because it can negatively affect a developing baby. While full-blown fetal alcohol syndrome typically occurs as a result of chronic drinking during pregnancy, even the tiniest amount of alcohol during pregnancy is unsafe and can cause some or all of the symptoms associated with FAS. If a woman is planning to conceive, it is best to give up drinking; alcohol can affect a baby even before a woman knows she is pregnant.

One of the chief dangers of consuming alcohol specifically in the early stages of pregnancy is it can cause physical deformities to the unborn baby. Consider that a baby’s brain develops throughout pregnancy and consumption of alcohol by a mother at any stage of pregnancy can adversely affect the baby’s mental capabilities.

Even though a baby is most vulnerable to damage caused by alcohol in earlier stages of pregnancy, a baby’s growth and development can be affected at any stage. For example, a mother’s consumption of alcohol in the second or third trimester can cause serious nervous system damage in an unborn child.

Remember, there is not any safe or advised amount or type of alcohol when it comes to drinking during pregnancy. While the consequences of drinking during pregnancy can vary from case to case, even occasional drinking can be harmful to the baby. This is because alcohol readily diffuses in a mother’s blood and can then reach the baby in the womb. Since a developing baby is not fully formed, it is not capable of eliminating alcohol. Alcohol can easily pass through the placental barrier that protects a fetus. This causes the fetus to receive a highly concentrated amount of alcohol that lingers far longer than it would in the mother. This may be harmful to the developing organs of the baby like the heart or kidneys. The best way to protect a baby is to abstain from alcohol.

 Effects

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a collection of symptoms that appear in a developing baby as a result of a pregnant mother’s consumption of alcohol. Babies affected by FAS can suffer from one symptom or several including various physical, mental, and behavioral disorders. For example, a baby may be low in weight at birth, have a smaller than normal head, and be shorter than the average height of a fully healthy baby. Alcohol may also cause babies to suffer from epilepsy. Damage can also occur to a developing baby’s facial features. A common facial feature deformity is a flat philtrum, which is the ridge between the nose and upper lip. Babies who suffer from this FAS condition have sleep and sucking problems. FAS can also cause complications with the heart, kidneys, and bones. There may also be additional problems with vision and hearing.

As FAS-affected babies grow, learning disabilities may become evident including poor memory, lack of concentration, a low IQ, speech and language delays, and weak coordination. Suffering from some of these symptoms can cause a FAS-affected child to be hyperactive and show poor judgment and reasoning, which can cause them to perform poorly in school. These disorders and disabilities are not reversible. Once fetal alcohol syndrome has occurred, it cannot be treated or reversed and there is no cure. Special education and counseling may be used to curb behavioral problems and heart defects can be somewhat helped through surgery, but most FAS-generated defects remain throughout a child’s lifetime. The best way to prevent a child from having any of these symptoms is to totally giving up on drinking during pregnancy.

 Prevention

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the related risks of a baby developing a handicap or mental or physical incapability later in life can be prevented by not drinking alcohol when planning a pregnancy. If birth control is not being used while a person is sexual active, it is ideal to refrain from alcohol before periods of sexual activity.

Any accidental or brief exposure of a developing baby to alcohol can be harmful since a developing baby’s organs form in the early weeks of pregnancy. Irreparable harm may occur even before a woman realizes she is pregnant. If a woman feels she is dependent on alcohol and desires to become pregnant, it is advised to seek out medical help and social support so they can give up drinking before starting a family.

Conclusion

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is 100 percent preventable

Most of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome’s symptoms have no cure, although some behavioral problems can be helped by special education and heart defects can be somewhat fixed through surgery.

Anyone trying to get pregnant or who is currently pregnant should completely abstain from alcohol.

No type or amount of alcohol is proven safe during pregnancy. Even the smallest amount may cause damage to a developing baby in the womb.

If needed, seek help from family, friends or a doctor to give up alcohol.