Effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Alcohol and Pregnancy

Effects of Alcohol on Pregnancy

More than 40,000 babies are born each year with some degree of alcohol related damage (Drinking pp). Although most women today are aware that drinking large amounts of alcohol while pregnant can cause serious physical and mental birth defects, many do not understand that even moderate and light alcohol intake during pregnancy can also harm the fetus (Drinking pp).

In fact, no level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been proven safe, thus, according to experts, pregnant women should abstain from all alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine, wine coolers and hard liquors, throughout their pregnancy and while nursing (Drinking pp). Moreover, because women may not know that they are pregnant for a few months, any woman who might be pregnant or who is trying to become pregnant should avoid all alcoholic beverages (Drinking pp). According to recent studies, even small amounts of alcohol can reduce a woman's chance of conceiving (Drinking pp).

When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, the alcohol passes quickly through the placenta to the baby, where, since the unborn baby's body is immature, the alcohol is broken down much more slowly than in an adult's body (Drinking pp).

This results in an alcohol level in the baby's blood even higher and remaining elevated longer than the level in the mother's blood, and can cause lifelong damage to the baby (Drinking pp).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, every year approximately eight thousand babies in the United Sates are born with fetal alcohol syndrome, FAS, which is a combination of physical and mental birth defects (Drinking pp). Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in roughly six percent of the babies born to mothers who are alcoholic or chronic alcohol abuser (Drinking pp). These are women who either drink alcohol excessively throughout their pregnancy or indulge in repeated episodes of binge drinking (Drinking pp).

According to the March of Dimes, "fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the most common known causes of mental retardation, and the only cause that is entirely preventable" (Drinking pp). Babies with FAS are abnormally small at birth and often do not catch up on growth as they get older (Drinking pp). Typically, FAS babies have small eyes, a short or upturned nose, and small flat cheeks (Drinking pp). Many FAS babies tend to have FAS malformed faces, such as narrow eyes, low nasal bridges, and thin upper lips, as well as heart and joint abnormalities (Neberezny pp). Their organs, particularly the heart, may not from properly and often their brain is small and abnormally formed, and the majority of them have some degree of mental disability (Drinking pp). Moreover, poor coordination, a short attention span and behavioral problems are also found in FAS babies (Drinking pp). These effects can last a lifetime, and any if not mentally retarded, "adolescents and adults with FAS have varying degrees of psychological and behavioral problems and often find it difficult to hold down a job and live independently" (Drinking pp). An estimated ten times the number of babies born with FAS are born with lesser degrees of alcohol-related damage, a condition sometimes referred to as fetal alcohol effects, FAE, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, FASD, and may show some of the physical or mental birth defects found with FAS (Drinking pp). More specific diagnostic categories for FAE, refer to the physical birth defects, such as heart defects, as alcohol-related birth defects, ARBD, and to the mental and behavioral abnormalities as alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders, ARND (Drinking pp). Alcohol-related birth defects, such as heart defects, are more likely to occur from the mother drinking during the first trimester, while growth problems are more likely to result from alcohol consumption in the third trimester, however, alcohol consumption at any stage of the can affect the brain (Drinking pp).