Pour-Decisionss

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Citations

Fetal Alcohol Exposure and the Brain - Alcohol Alert No. 50. (2000, December). Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa50.htm

Fetal alcohol syndrome. (2018, January 10). Retrieved June 2, 2019, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fetal-alcohol-syndrome/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352907

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms & Diagnosis. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2019, from https://www.healthline.com/health/fetal-alcohol-syndrome

Living with FASD. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2019, from https://www.nofas.org/living-with-fasd/

Pregnancy and Alcohol: Safety, Effects & Addiction. (2017, April 12). Retrieved June 2, 2019, from https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/pregnancy-and-alcohol/

Thanh, N. X., & Jonsson, E. (2016, March 9). Life Expectancy of People with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26962962

What are the Effects & Dangers of Alcohol During Pregnancy? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment/dangers-pregnancy

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Treatments & Life Expectancy

There is no known cure available for people affected by FAS/FASD.  The physical defects and mental deficiencies typically persist for a lifetime.  However, if caught early, treatment can help reduce some symptoms. 

Treatment can include:  special education teachers, speech therapist, physical and occupational therapists, and a psychologist.  

Early intervention can help with walking, talking, and social skills.  Special services in school can help with learning and behavioral issues.  Medications can help with some symptoms.  And last but not least, medical care for health problems such as vision problems or heart abnormalities.  

According to PubMed, the life expectancy at birth of people with FAS is 34 years old (31-37 years).  The leading causes of death for people with FAS were “external causes” (44%) which include suicide (15%), accidents (14%), poisoning by illegal drugs or alcohol (7%), and other external causes (7%). Other common causes of death were diseases of the nervous and respiratory systems (8% each), diseases of the digestive system (7%), congenital malformations (7%), mental and behavioral disorders (4%), and diseases of the circulatory system (4%).

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Life of a Person with FAS

Life can be difficult living with FAS.  When a baby with FAS grows up, the disorder stays with them.  Here are difficulties people with FAS/FASD deal with as they gradually grow older:

During infancy; poor sleep-wake cycles/ irritability, poor weight gain, chronic ear infections, and/or speech delays

When a toddler; delayed motor skills, dental problems, small appetites and/or sensitivity to food textures

During childhood; difficulty sleeping, boundary issues, attention problems, become easily frustrated, and/or have trouble understanding cause and effect

During adolescence; depression/ anxiety, victimization, lying, stealing, and/or antisocial behavior

During adulthood; housing issues (finding appropriate housing for adults affected by FAS/FASD), poor social relations, trouble handling money, and/or difficultly obtaining/ keeping a job

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Effects on Central Nervous System

According to the Emory University, exposure to alcohol in the womb begins in the earliest weeks of pregnancy.  In the 3rd week, alcohol affects the fetus’s heart and central nervous system.  As the mother’s drinking continues, the fetus’s eyes, arms, legs, and heart can be negatively affected.  In the 6th week, the teeth and ears may become affected if the mother continues to drink.  This will also affect the external genitalia as well.  During the 12th week through to the infant’s birth, the brain will adversely become exposed to alcohol leading to cognitive, learning and behavioral effects of exposure to alcohol before birth.

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Other Types of Disorders

A fetal alcohol syndrome can happen to a child when the mother drinks during pregnancy, sometimes known as FASDs.  FASD is a broader term used for a range of disorders.  These disorders can be mild or severe and can cause physical and mental birth defects.  

Types of FASDs include: fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related birth defects, alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder, and neurobehavioral disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure.  

FAS is a severe form of the condition.  People with FAS may have problems with vision, hearing, memory, attention, and abilities to learn and communicate.  While the defects vary, the damage is often permanent. 

[pour-decisionss-blog]

What About Mom?

Yes, drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause some serious detrimental health problems for the unborn fetus, but what happens to the mother when she drinks?  Alcohol can affect pregnant women negatively, especially if she is dealing with addiction issues.  If she deals with addiction, it will be harder to abstain from alcohol use.  

Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks at one time for women, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).  If the mother is binge drinking frequently, her child will have a higher risk of developing severe behavioral and health issues.  Heavy drinking will also limit the mothers parenting and care-giving abilities.

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Should Men Abstain From Alcohol, Too?

Yes!  When a man and a woman are trying to get pregnant, both of them should abstain from alcohol immediately.  Not only should men abstain from drinking in show of moral support for the woman, but it could affect the baby.  If the man drinks regularly or heavily, this may lead to physical, mental, and/or intellectual issues for the child after birth.  In addition, alcohol negatively affects men’s sperm cells.  As the sperm fertilizes the woman’s egg, it introduces the effects of the alcohol to the newly fertilized embryo.

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Cognitive Development

Drinking any amount of alcohol during pregnancy is harmful, no matter what stage the mother is in.  Like physical abnormalities, the unborn fetus could develop cognitive development disabilities, too.  These can include:  

Verbal Learning-  problems with language and memory.  Learning problems occur during the initial stages of memory formation (i.e. encoding) 

Visual-Spatial Learning-  may have trouble organizing, seeing the “whole picture”, getting lost more easily, and having difficulties with sense of direction

Attention-  can maintain attention but would possibly have trouble shifting attention from one task to another

Reaction Time-  maternal drinking during pregnancy is related to longer reaction times.  This suggests slower, less efficient information processing

Executive Functions-  i.e. activities that require abstract thinking, such as planning and organizing.  They may also have ineffective strategies for problem-solving tasks.

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Info & Statistics

Drinking alcohol while pregnant is never safe.  No amount of alcohol and no time in pregnancy have been established as safe for the fetus.  According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA), alcohol passes through the placenta to the baby.  Because babies are smaller compared to adults, alcohol breaks down much slowly than in a grown person.  This means that the alcohol remains in the baby’s blood much longer than in the mother’s thus leading to possible irreversible harm to the baby’s development.

Some experts say that roughly 1% of the population suffer from FASD as a result of their mother drinking during pregnancy.  

[pour-decisionss-blog]

It’s Not Worth It

In cases of FASD or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the baby may have several distinctive features of the disorder.  Physical features can include:  small head, being shorter than peers, low weight, short nose, low nasal bridge, smaller eyes with dropping eyelids, flattened cheeks, small jaw, and smooth ridge between nose and upper lip.  

[pour-decisionss-blog]

Don’t Make Pour Decisions

Many expecting women, including adolescents, do not understand the influences that alcohol can cause.  Alcohol is a teratogen.  A teratogen can be defined as a substance known to be harmful to human development.  When a mother drinks throughout her pregnancy, she is putting her unborn baby at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD).  These problems can include:  low birth weight, premature birth, stillbirth, miscarriage, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and/or birth defects.