Alcohol While Pregnant Essay

There were many other factors in this pregnancy that could also be harmful to the child. Not only was the mother an alcoholic who continued to drink, she also was under a severe amount of stress throughout the pregnancy. She suffers a nasty fall and countless

National surveys show that about six out of every ten women of child-bearing age 18-44 years old use alcohol, and slightly less than one-third of women who drink alcohol in this age group binge drink. Excessive exposure to alcohol during pregnancy can inflict serious, permanent physical and mental damage on her child like Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders (FASDS), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), miscarriage, and premature birth. Although men are more likely to drink alcohol, and drink in larger amounts, gender differences in body structure and chemistry cause women to absorb more alcohol, and take longer to break it down and remove it from their bodies. Upon drinking equal amounts, women have higher alcohol levels in their blood than men, and

The fetus is not the only one harmed by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, but the mother is as well. In fact, many doctors urge women who think they are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant to stop drinking (“Fetal Alcohol”). “One percent of all mothers consume fourteen or more drinks per week during the three months before pregnancy” (Walsh 3). To the average person one percent is not too large of a proportion. However, the volume of alcohol consumed is high during

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a pattern of mental, physical, and behavioral defects that may develop in the unborn child when its mother drinks during pregnancy. These defects occur primarily during the first trimester when the teratogenic effects of the alcohol have the greatest effect on the developing organs. The symptoms associated with FAS have been observed for many centuries, but it was not until 1968 that Lemoine and his associates formally described these symptoms in the scientific literature, and again in 1973 when Jones and associates designated a specific pattern of altered growth and dysmorphogenesis as the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Rostand, p. 302). The set of abnormalities characterized by Jones

Considering the multitudes of things that could go wrong during a pregnancy, why would mothers consume alcohol despite the warnings of possible birth defects? Many are familiar with the "Just Say No" campaign spearheaded by Nancy Reagan in the 1980 's to prevent drug and alcohol use among teens. However, many turn a blind eye to the warnings of the surgeon general stating alcohol consumption during pregnancy can result in birth defects. When a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, she puts her fetus at risk from mild to severe physical, mental and cognitive disabilities. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the term that is used to describe an array of disorders that occurs as a consequence of women consuming alcohol during pregnancy. There are many types of FASD including fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related birth defects(ARBD), alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder(ARND), and neurobehavioral disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. Although alcohol consumption during pregnancy is ill-advised, throughout the United States mothers continue to drink during pregnancy. Being FASD is the most preventable of developmental disabilities, I will examine the irreparable consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its behavioral, physical, cognitive and educational implications on the fetus and the family.

Even though a number of things cause an IUGR drinking alcohol is one factor that can be prevented. During the first trimester of the pregnancy, the caregiver assesses the size of the pregnant woman’s uterus by doing a pelvic exam. After that the initial assessment of the uterus she checks the baby’s growth by measuring the belly at every prenatal visit, if the measurement is smaller than your due date an ultrasound is done to determine the weight and size of the baby, but sometimes the woman may have the date of her last period wrong, which will throw off the due date (Intrauterine growth restriction, 2012). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is not genetically inherited but rather an acquired syndrome. This syndrome is a spectrum disorder; the child can have it very mild or extremely severe. Fetal alcohol syndrome is irreversible and has no cure; the child just undergoes treatment for the rest of his life. A study showed that about 30% of women in the U.S. drink alcohol during pregnancy (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, 2011). This number will only continue if women are not educated about the effects of alcohol on the unborn child. If a woman is pregnant or plans to get pregnant she should not have a drink of alcohol not even a single drop during her term. Phil Petrosky an Ohio Department of Health employee says; “I would absolutely say there is no safe amount of alcohol at all during pregnancy.” If the pregnant woman did not know she was pregnant and drank alcohol, she should

Whenever a mother drinks, her baby is at risk for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effect. When a pregnant women drinks alcohol, her baby does too. It is not clear whether there is a threshold amount of alcohol that must be consumed before damage to the baby occurs. There is also no proof that small amounts of alcohol are safe.

Alcohol, even at small portions, have a great effect on an infant. Toddlers become uncontrollable and hostile towards parents due to the consumption of liquor. In particular, mothers who drank while pregnant have increased the risk of having a daughter who has a mental illness. Drinking during pregnancy causes impairment to vital organs and causes permanent health problems to the soon to be born

Even though there are many studies that highlight the damaging effects of maternal alcohol use on a fetus in utero, there are a multitude of other substances that are used by pregnant mothers that have similar and even, in some cases, more extreme repercussions such as marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. When speaking about pregnancy and drug use, the most common drug that comes to mind is alcohol. During 12 years of schooling, most people are exposed, at one point or another, to the idea of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the detrimental effects of alcohol on a fetus in utero. The effects of maternal use of the aforementioned illicit drugs is less studied, partially because they are used less frequently. It is important, however, that as a population, we become more educated about these drugs and the potentially life threatening outcomes for babies in utero.

The results of drinking alcohol with a baby in the womb can be very serious. There are a range of effects that can occur to the child exposed. The most serious result of drinking during pregnancy is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Some of the effects of FAS are hyperactivity, short attention span, learning problems, behavioral issues, delayed development, and abnormal facial features. The abundance of problems the child will have all depends on the amount of alcohol consumed by the mother during pregnancy.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) refers to a group of physical and mental birth defects resulting from a women’s drinking alcohol heavily or at crucial stages during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was first named and treated in the late 1960's. This condition results from the toxic effect of alcohol and its chemical factors on the developing fetus. FAS is the leading cause of mental retardation occurring in 1 out of every 750 births. The frequency of FAS occurs about 1.9 times out of every 1000 births according to the latest figures, and minor effects can be seen in up to 20% of pregnancies per year. This number changes drastically for women who are clearly alcoholics. As high as 29 children out of every 1000 births will suffer from FAS

would not be able to live a normal life for the rest of its life. The

Your baby is at risk no matter how much liquor you drink. It doesn’t matter if it’s beer, wine, or hard liquor. The chemicals in the liquor quickly pass through into the placenta, which means the baby absorbs as much

Drinking can also cause the baby to be born with certain features that are different from a non-alcoholic pregnant woman such as being skinny and the head size being smaller than

Even a small amount of alcohol has the potential to hurt the child. The unborn child of a person who occasionally drinks is at risk of receiving fetal alcohol effects. This condition causes children to receive some of the same of the same effects that come from fetal alcohol syndrome. A child may not receive any of these conditions due to a mother’s alcohol consumption, but there are still some potential effects. Evidence shows that when a pregnant mother consumes an average of two alcoholic beverages per day, her child may have a lower amount of intelligence and is also at risk for having mental retardation. Also, there is research that suggests that even low quantities of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can have contrary effects on the child’s behavioral and psychological functions, and can cause a child to exhibit behaviors such as hyperactivity, unusual nervousness or anxiety, and poor impulse control. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can also cause children to have less accuracy in their spatial and visual reasoning later in their lives. Due to these results, Sarah should be advised to not drink alcohol while she is