The Effects Of Alcohol During Pregnancy On Children

“Alcohol, like other teratogenic agents, is associated with a spectrum of malformations related to dose and timing. The multiplicity of effects suggests that alcohol can alter development throughout gestation” (Rosett and Weiner 65). Therefore because it is not known when in fetal development when alcohol causes neurological and physical defects no amount of alcohol is safe. The best way to prevent FAS is by abstaining from the use of alcohol products. This sounds so simple, but for many women it is not. Usually infants born to mothers who are alcoholics have little to no prenatal care. With no prenatal care a mother who consumes alcohol is not warned or told of the dangers of drinking. A lot of these children end up in foster care being shuttled back and forth between families, due to the behavioral and physical problems

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a concise, uniform definition for conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. FASD is a broad term used to describe the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy (Caley, Kramer, & Robinson, 2005). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder can also cause growth retardation, birth defectscomma and deficits in cognitive, languagecomma and motor development (Coles et al., 2015). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a teratogenic effect, which is caused by daily, chronic, heavy and frequent alcohol use while in utero. Chances of an infant diagnosed with FASD are 0.5 to 3 in 1,000 live births (Cone-Wesson, 2005). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder has many different diagnoses. There is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), partial fetal alcohol syndrome (PFAS)comma and alcohol-related neuro-developmental disorder (ARND)comma all under the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder umbrella (Brown et al., 2015). Maternal alcohol use is correlated to the timing, frequencycomma and quantity of the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Drinking during the first trimester may not be as detrimental as drinking during the second or third trimester. The frequency of alcohol consumed is also a key factor in FASD, such as how often per day drinks are consumed, the quantity of alcohol consumed, and how many glasses or cans per day the mother consumes

The term “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders” (FASDS) is used to describe the numerous problems associated with exposure to alcohol before birth. Each year in the United States, up to 40,000 babies are born with “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders” (FASDs) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). Additionally, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders (FASDs) comes with effects that range from mild to severe. These effects include mental retardation; learning, emotional and behavioral problems; and defects involving the heart, face and other organs. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the patterns of drinking that place a baby at greatest risk for FASDS are binge drinking and drinking seven or more drinks per week (Surgeon General). However, FASDS can occur in babies of women who drink less. There is no way of measuring how much alcohol one can consume before defects occur, and no proof that small amounts of alcohol are safe. As little as one drink a day can cause a baby some degree of harm and interfere with their normal development.

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

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. The severely effected victims of the syndrome have a variety of congenital defects: mental retardation, coordination problems, and heart, eye, and genitourinary malformations, as well as low birth weight and slowed growth rate. Most apparent are characteristic facial abnormalities.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a general term consist disabilities when a mother consumes alcohol during her pregnancy. The medical prognosis of FASD includes: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS), Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) and Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD). Moreover, teratogen is a harmful agent that can interrupt the development of an embryo. For instance, alcohol is teratogen. As per Health Canada, FASD is a leading cause of a completely avertable developmental disability but it still affects approximately one percent of the Canadian population (Batshaw, Roizen & Lotrecchiano, 2012). However, there are many alterations to the disabilities and the development of sub-groups. Thereby, the term FASD is introduced to ensure the incidence of all the characteristics (mental, behavioral and physical) associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol. The exposure to alcohol during the pregnancy places the infant at the risk of developing problems such as abnormal appearance, low body weight, poor coordination, low intelligence, facial abnormalities, neuropsychological deficits, central nervous system deficits and growth delays (Riley, Infante & Warren, 2011). As the paper progress, we will discuss the characteristics, causes and the epidemiology of FASD. In addition we will all focus on the mental disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) associated with FASD and a

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) happens when a woman drinks alcohol throughout pregnancy. When drank, the alcohol enters the mother’s blood stream and passes to the baby through the umbilical cord, so when a woman drinks alcohol, ultimately, so does the developing fetus. There is not a “right” or safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed during a pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant. Alcohol can cause many problems for a developing baby throughout pregnancy, and even before the woman knows that they are pregnant. There are many preventative measures that can be taken to avoid having a child with FAS, the biggest one being for the mother to not drink alcohol throughout the pregnancy and even when trying to get pregnant. Even if the woman

One of the typical CNS dysfunction problems of fetal alcohol syndrome is related to attention deficit. In this regard, children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and that had been exposed to high dosages of alcohol during pregnancy generally have lower coefficients of intelligence, present learning problems or are unable of correlating the visual signal to their surrounding environment.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a collection of conditions that affect the cognitive, physical, and motor development and abilities of children. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is caused by a teratogen, such as alcohol or illicit drugs, crossing through the mother’s blood to the developing fetus (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 201 6). Depending on the amount of the toxin consumed and the period of the pregnancy, FAS has a wide degrees of severity and therefore is considered a spectrum disorder (Plante & Beeson, 2013).

Behavioral malformations can include attention deficit or hyperactivity, as well as impaired adaptive behavior, social skills, and social communication.2 A range of affected behavior is evident, with any degree of general impairment possible in intelligence, reflex development, motor coordination, and hyperactivity of muscle.1 Core deficits that are found in a majority of cases of prenatal alcohol exposure include deficits in attention, learning, memory, emotional dysregulation, and executive functioning, which

The worst outcome of fetal alcohol exposure is FAS which is a lifelong condition that damage to the central nervous system, poor growth pertaining to development in the womb, growth after birth, or a combination of both and causes abnormal facial features.

The search for specific maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol syndrome has been researched for more than two decades. The most obvious risk factor for FAS is alcohol. The more alcohol that a mother drinks during pregnancy, the greater the chance of the baby having the abnormalities and symptoms of FAS when born. The baby may be born with abnormalities such as microcephaly, craniofacial defects, and behavioral problems. The abnormalities that the baby is born with is dependent on the amount of alcohol that the mother drinks while pregnant (May et al).

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