It’s not a good idea to drink whilst pregnant
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a set of mental, physical and neurobehavioural birth defects that are the direct result of alcohol use during pregnancy.
FASD is the leading known preventable cause of mental impairment and birth defects. It is 100% preventable if pregnant women do not drink alcohol.
International studies indicate 1 in 100 children are born with FASD. This includes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND), Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE).
If a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits when she is pregnant, her baby could be born with FASD. Children and adults with FASD can suffer from mental impairment, central nervous system dysfunction, a distinctive pattern of facial abnormalities and damage to major organs. Children affected are often small at birth and develop slowly. In addition to lower IQs, children with FASD may also have learning difficulties, show poor coordination, have problems in memory, attention and judgment, and exhibit hyperactivity and behavioural problems.
How does a mother’s drinking affect her unborn child?
There is no way to know for sure how alcohol might affect the unborn baby. One baby may be harmed by alcohol, while another may not. When a pregnant women drinks alcohol, so does her baby. The alcohol enters the mother’s blood stream and the tiny alcohol molecules cross the placenta entering the blood supply of the foetus.
Alcohol can harm an unborn baby in different ways at different times during pregnancy.
How can Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder be prevented?
FASD is 100% preventable when a woman abstains from alcohol during her pregnancy.
It is never too late to stop drinking. Anytime a woman stops drinking while pregnant, she decreases the risk of harm to the foetus.
Development of the embryo
Vulnerability of the foetus for birth defects during different periods of development
The dark portion of the bars represents the most sensitive periods of development, during which teratogenic effects on the sites listed would result in major structural abnormalities in the child. The light portion of the bars represents periods of development during which physiological defects and minor structural abnormalities could occur. (Source adopted from Moore 1993)
The FASD brain
It is believed that, although alcohol can affect the development of all cells and organs at different stages during pregnancy, the first trimester when organs are being formed is particularly sensitive. However, the brain is vulnerable to the effects of alcohol exposure throughout the pregnancy. The alcohol robs the brain of oxygen and destroys brain cells that can never be regenerated.
Alcohol can cause holes in the developing brain; it can reduce brain size. It can also result in a significantly smaller brain that is missing critical pieces. (Professor Ed Riley, Scientist)
Alcohol can kill brain cells outright or make them functionless. The frontal lobes, which control critical thinking, reasoning and judgment, are particularly vulnerable.
The FAS face
If a pregnant women drinks during the first trimester, when the facial features are forming, this may result in her child having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and the FAS face, as well as other fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. FAS is the only disorder of the spectrum to exhibit these facial characteristics. A child is more likely to be diagnosed with FAS if they have the facial characteristics.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Facial Features
Though a child may not have the visible facial features they may still have other alcohol related disorders in the spectrum.
FASD invisible characteristics
Though we cannot see the neurological brain damage that results from prenatal alcohol exposure, it can cause:
- Attention deficits
- Difficulty learning from consequences
- Memory deficits
- Hyperactivity
- Poor judgement
- Difficulty with abstract concepts (maths, time, money)
- Immature behaviour
- Poor impulse control
- Poor problem solving skills
- Confused social skills
FASD possible physical effects
- Smaller head circumference
- Damage to the structure of the brain
- Heart defects
- Eye problems
- Limb damage
- Hearing problems
- Bone formation defects
- Facial abnormalities
- Kidney damage
Any of these symptoms may also be present in children who do not have FASD. However, in FASD affected children these behaviours may be exaggerated. ‘Normal’ discipline and parenting may not work in changing a child’s behaviour.
How much alcohol is safe during pregnancy?
“There is no established ‘safe dose’of alcohol for pregnant women. Since there is no known safe amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the Academy recommends abstinencefrom alcohol for women who are pregnant or who are planning for pregnancy.” American Academy of Pediatrics (1993)
“Laboratory studies suggest that a single drinking binge by a pregnant woman can damage the brain of her unborn child for life. Drinking in late pregnancy is really unsafe for the brain … One glass of wine at dinner is unlikely to cause the damage, but we cannot say that any added intake would be safe … The most prudent policy would be to have no alcohol during pregnancy.” Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
“Evidence is currently emerging, but is as yet inconclusive, about the exact dose of alcohol that is safe in pregnancy.The likelihood is that individual differences in alcohol metabolism may protect most women when drinking small quantities. Currently we cannot predict who is and is not at risk.” British Medical Journal, 19th February 2005
“The behavioural effects observed indicate maternal alcohol consumption has influenced, possibly permanently, the functioning of the brain and CNS (central nervous system) of the foetus and infant. These effects are observed at low levels of maternal alcohol consumption (5-6 units per week) and this raises questions regarding the ‘safe’ level of alcohol during pregnancy.” Queens University in Belfast (1999), Report on Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol
Government recognition of the dangers and rise in the occurrence of FAS in the US has resulted in laws, which require every label on all alcoholic beverages to contain this warning:
GOVERNMENT WARNING: According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.
