Drinking during pregnancy can cause obvious consequences to a baby’s growth and development. The more you drink during your pregnancy, the more you are increasing the risk of certain complications such as miscarriage and stillbirth. One complications that women may not get told about and is not publicised enough is Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). This condition however is said to affect as many as one in 500 babies born in Western countries.
Children born with FAS have distinctive symptoms which can include facial abnormalities such as small heads and small and narrow eyes but can also show signs of other symptoms such as hearing and ear problems and height and weight issues.
The alcohol that a pregnant woman drinks, like everything else that the woman consumes, goes to the foetus via the bloodstream. Due to the foetus not being fully developed liver wise, the liver cannot metabolize the alcohol quickly enough. Due to the high blood concentration the foetus now has it lacks the things needed for its vital organs to develop properly. Timing is another key factor in causing FAS and some of its symptoms because of the way the baby grows and develops, drinking at different times during the pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of different symptoms of FAS.
FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) is the term used to describe the condition in which a child may have been diagnosed with some, but not all of the symptoms of FAS. It is also caused by drinking but it affects more how the baby develops physically and mentally. It is more difficult to diagnose FASD due to absence (most of the time) of the facial abnormalities. It may not be until the child is much older and starting school until FASD can be diagnosed because that is when