Summary: The Effects Of Alcohol On Prenatal Development

“If women didn’t drink anymore during pregnancy, there would never be another baby born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effect” (McCuen 33). This is a very powerful statement. It is also a very simple cure for an alarmingly high birth defect that all women have the power to stop. “Every year more than 40,000 American children are born with defects because their mother drank alcohol while pregnant “ (McCuen 34). That is 1 to 3 per 1,000 live births (McCuen 31). Many of these cases go undiagnosed “It is also the number one cause of mental retardation in the United States, and one of the three leading causes of birth defects.” (McCuen 33-34). “Alcohol produces more significant

Although throughout the United States activist and educational campaigns have flooded U.S citizens with education on the detrimental effects of maternal alcohol consumption, women are still continuing to consume alcohol while pregnant. Fifty three percent of non-pregnant woman drink alcohol, and despite health warnings, twelve percent of pregnant mothers in the United States still consume alcohol (Pruett &Waterman & Caughey, 2013, p. 62). Fetal alcohol exposure is also believed to be widely underreported in the United States (Pruett et al., 2013, p. 66). Current research concludes that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, nor a safe time during gestation for alcohol consumption to take place (National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome [NOFAS], 2014). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term used for the various conditions that maternal alcohol consumption causes. Although each case of FASD can present differently, cognitive disabilities, facial deformities, and growth retention are a few of the hallmark adverse effects that alcohol has when it enters fetal circulation (Paley & O’Connor, 2011, p. 64). The United States is impacted economically by these debilitating conditions as well, as it costs our nation $746 million dollars annually to care for these children (Bhuvaneswar, Chang, Epstein & Stern, 2007, p. 3). Nurses in America, and across the globe have a key role in helping to eliminate, and minimize adverse effects of these conditions

This paper explores the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on motor development. With this topic, came many questions. They are: Is every child effected the same amount, or does it depends on how much the mother drank and how much the fetus was exposed to?, Is there anything the mother can do to reverse the effects of exposure, or perhaps lessen the damage on the child?, Is there a safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed without harm?, And lastly, do the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure ever go away? Coles et al. (2015) and Lucas et al. (2016) suggest answers and evidence to these questions. This paper explains what happens when a fetus is exposed to alcohol, and how it

As a result of pregnant women drinking, there have been a profuse amount of children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Armstrong and Abel confirm that it wasn’t until 1973

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

As stated earlier, alcohol has its greatest effect on the developing embryo during the first trimester of pregnancy with its teratogenic effect causing mental retardation as well as characteristic craniofacial abnormalities that are characteristic of the disease. It has also been demonstrated with experimental animal models that there is a clear "dose-response" effect between the amount of alcohol consumed by the mother and the risk that is associated with developing FAS symptoms (Walpole, p. 875). It has been proposed by Walpole and associates that there are various degrees to which the fetus An be effected. Walpole uses the term "fetal alcohol syndrome" to refer to serious effects due to heavy maternal drinking and "fetal alcohol effect" to refer to those effects thought to occur with lower maternal alcohol intake (Walpole, p. 875). Regardless of the degree to which

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- It is frightening to know that doctors used to tell their patients that it was ok to drink a glass of wine when pregnant this is a big NO, even a sip can cause FAS. What is FAS? This is when a mother who is pregnant drinks alcohol and it reaches the fetus cause adverse birth defects. When ethanol (alcohol) is drank, it is met by enzymes who break down the substance, women have less of ADH then men making alcohol very dangerous for women just in general. Therefore when a women drinks even the littles drop it is hurting the baby in more ways than one and that one drop can cause FAS. When a drug like alcohol breaks thru the placenta barrier into the fetus there called teratogens (this is what causes the birth defect).

When a woman is pregnant it is recommended that she does not consume any alcohol. If a woman does consume alcohol during the pregnancy she can cause a disorder called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Rank, J.). In 1968, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was characterized by P. Lamoine and colleagues form Nantes. They reported their findings in the French pediatric journal but unfortunately it didn’t draw to much attention. Five years later, in 1973, it was characterized again by K.L. Jones and colleagues in Seattle. Unlike the report in 1968 that wasn’t a success, this report in the British medical journal, The Lancet, triggered a great amount of reporters of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Perlstein, David, MD, FAAP). The disorder is characterized by brain

Drinking alcohol while in the first trimester disrupts cellular processes that have long-term consequences on neural function. This leaves many cells unable to navigate and more vulnerable to future break downs. Alcohol consumption during second trimester is equally as damaging. Exposure to alcohol causes cellular stress which alters genes (Alberry, Chokroborty-Hoque, Diehl, Kleiber, Laufer, Mantha, Singh 2014). During the third trimester the fetus experiences a brain growth spurt. This spurt is caused by cell to cell communication which establishes neural pathways. Consumption of alcohol disrupts this process. Consumption of alcohol is detrimental to brain and cellular development through all gestations; however, consumption during third trimester causes the most neurological

Alcohol is a type of teratogen, which is an agent that can caused birth defects to occur. The timing and the amount of exposure to a teratogen is crucial when it comes to a pregnancy. A mother’s use of alcohol can greatly affect an unborn child. The timing at which the effect of teratogens varies from person to person, but the time when the teratogens have the largest effect typically occurs during the periods of rapid prenatal development. Mothers who are pregnant, or who wish to become pregnant, should avoid consuming alcohol because the teratogens can affect the mother’s eggs. It is true that there are certain stages in the pregnancy where a certain amount of exposure to teratogens will only have little impact, but there is still some form of result. When

If the mother drinks a lot of alcohol during each time she is pregnant, at least one child or none at all with had FASD (Santrock). When the mother drinks a heavy or light amount of alcohol, it can cause many negative effects to the fetus such as miscarriages and stillbirths. It can also range of lifelong physical, behavioral, and intellectual disabilities (“Alcohol”). Studies show that drinking 1 or 2 servings of alcohol a week will damage the fetus’s development of the brain. Although, drinking small servings a week will not cause FASD. According to the National Institutes of Care and Health Excellence in Great Britain, they have concluded that, “It is safe to consume one to two drinks not more than twice a week during pregnancy”. The U.S. Surgeon General disagrees with that statement because they said, “We recommend that no alcohol be consumed during pregnancy”

Prenatal drinking increases the risk for a wide range of catastrophic outcomes. For instance, spontaneous abortion which is where the fetus dies within the first twenty months of gestation. Evidence suggests that this is mostly associated with a mother who induced five more drinks per week but there is no consistent evidence for a mother who drank less. Stillbirth is another devastating outcome and is where the baby dies twenty weeks after gestation, current research

Heavy drinking during a pregnancy can have a very serious effect on the unborn child and lead to a number of serious health problems. When drinking occurs during pregnancy the alcohol reaches the baby`s bloodstream via the placenta and even a very small amount of alcohol can damage the unborn child and larger amounts can significantly increase the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and foetal alcohol syndrome. This condition occurs in the feotus because the baby’s liver is not fully formed and it relies on the mother’s liver to break down the alcohol. Because alcohol only leaves the body / bloodstream at one unit an hour it places a heavy burden on the mother’s liver to remove the alcohol quickly. One average bottle of white wine can have approximately