What’s the Risk?
When a mother consumes alcohol during pregnancy, the alcohol travels from her body into the baby’s, where it takes longer to break down. This can lead to lifelong damage for the child in the form of a series of defects known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), the most serious of which is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The risk to the fetus appears to be greatest during the first three months of pregnancy, when the brain, heart and major organs are developing, although drinking at any point during pregnancy carries risk. Because the brain and central nervous system (CNS) continue to develop throughout the pregnancy, alcohol consumption at any point can pose a threat to the child.
This also means that consuming alcohol while attempting to become pregnant can pose a serious risk because most women do not know that they are pregnant for at least four to six weeks after conception. If you had a glass of wine before you knew that you were pregnant, chances are that the baby won’t be harmed, but you can share your concerns, as well as how much alcohol you consumed, with your OB or primary care physician.
What do FASDs look like?
According to data published by the American Physiological Society, more than 500,000 women admit to drinking during pregnancy, and about 20 percent of that population admitted to binge drinking. This drinking can lead to scary consequences for infants because binge drinking and consuming any alcohol during the first eight weeks of pregnancy are the two largest risk factors for infants developing FASDs or FAS. Among the symptoms of FASDs children experience:
Behavior and Attention Problems
About 70 percent of children born with FASDs are severely hyperactive and have behavior problems that include stubbornness, impulsiveness, passiveness, fearlessness, irritability, sleep difficulty, and teasing or bullying others. Children with FASDs also often engage in disturbing self-stimulating behaviors such as body rocking, head banging or head rolling.
Heart Defects
About 50 percent of children born with FASDs experience some form of heart defect, ranging from mild to life-threatening.
Changes in The Physical Structure of the Face And Body
Children with FASDs may exhibit abnormal facial features, including a smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip, called a philtrum, or may have a small head size. Children with FASDs may have a number of other physical markers, including a short nose, large or malformed ears, a short neck, and underdeveloped fingernails or toenails. Facial markers include a low nasal bridge, thin upper lip, flat midface, droopy eyelids, crossed eyes, or a small or underdeveloped jaw.
Poor Growth Before and After Birth
Many children with FASDs are born prematurely or may exhibit low birth weight and failure to thrive, during which they do not grow at a normal rate for a child of his or her size after birth.
Poor Muscle Tone and Problems with Movement and Balance
Children with FASDs may have impaired fine motor coordination, impaired hand-eye coordination, and may be clumsy or accident-prone. About 40 percent of children with FASDs have musculoskeletal and limb defects, which can range from small problems with finger joints to congenital hip dislocations and thoracic cage abnormalities.
Problems with Thinking and Speech
Children with FASDs have difficulty with thinking, reasoning and normal speech. The average IQ of a child born with FASDs is between 65 and 80. A normal IQ is 100, with a standard deviation of 15 points in either direction to create a normal IQ range. However, IQs of less than 85 are considered indicators of mental retardation, and IQs less than 70 indicate severe retardation.
Social Impairment
Children with FASDs suffer from a number of problems that affect their ability to interact socially. They often do not consider the consequences of their actions and lack the appropriate responses to social cues, making it difficult for them to form reciprocal friendships. FASD children often withdraw socially, have sullen moods, and have periods of high anxiety and excessive unhappiness. These traits make it difficult for a child with an FASD to form satisfying or long-lasting relationships. Children with FASDs are also at a higher risk of developing aggressive or violent behaviors later in life and may be more prone to secondary problems, including criminal behavior, promiscuity, addiction, suicide and homelessness. These secondary problems develop during adolescence and may be identified by a pattern of juvenile delinquency, sexual acting out, school truancy or dropping out, and reactive outbursts.
Learning Disabilities
Children with FASDs often have intellectual disabilities or low IQs. They may experience difficulty in school, especially in math and in subjects that require abstract reasoning, have poor memory skills, and exhibit poor reasoning and judgment skills. It is believed that children with FASDs have difficulty achieving academic functioning beyond an early grade school level, even with remedial help at school.
Children with FASDs have symptoms that range from mild to severe, and there can be a range of additional complications for the child, including premature or stillborn delivery and cerebral palsy.
Get Help
If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, and you cannot stop drinking on your own, disclose this to your doctor, contact a local branch of Alcoholics Anonymous or contact a local alcohol treatment center.
Remember that it’s never too late to stop. If you’ve already consumed alcohol during your pregnancy, you should still stop as soon as possible to minimize the risks of permanent damage to your unborn child. Wait until his or her 21st birthday to share a cocktail -- your child will thank you for it.