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The effects of alcohol abuse on pregnant women
The effects of alcohol abuse on pregnant women
Foetal alcohol syndrome effects on children
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Recommended: The effects of alcohol abuse on pregnant women
Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
Thousands of children are born with effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Alcohol is very dangerous to the child in the womb. In the U.S, prenatal exposure is the most common reason for birth defects. Alcohol during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal alcohol syndrome, birth weight, preterm labor, and brain damage.
There are two theories as to why consuming alcohol can cause miscarriage. First, drinking alcohol very early in the pregnancy may cause chromosomal abnormalities in a fetus. Chromosomal abnormalities are one of the most common causes of miscarriages. Second, alcohol may cause prostaglandins to be released. Prostaglandins are enzymes which may play a role in labor.
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It’s when your body starts getting ready for birth too early in your pregnancy. Labor is premature if its start more than three weeks before your due. Lots of things can increase your risk of premature labor. Some of them are smoking, drinking alcohol or using street drugs during pregnancy, and lastly getting pregnant to soon after having a baby. Stop drinking is a 100% chance to prevent this from happening. Acting fast can make a difference by calling your doctor about your drinking problem. Some of the symptoms are backache, which usually will be in your lower back. This may be constant or come and go, but it won’t ease even if you change position or do something else for …show more content…
Alcohol during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal alcohol syndrome, birth weight, preterm labor, and brain damage. Having a miscarriage, is very much preventable and during the first two trimester is very important to not drink it can affect a lot of issues for the baby such as miscarriage. A still birth is also an effect from drinking the baby can be considered bad to the body if the entire toxin from the alcohol gets to the baby and the body will consider it bad. Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most common syndrome in the u.s now it can cause stubbornness and anger issues down the line. Birth weight, is not a big main concern as much as the others. Until the baby is born less than 5lbs it’s a problem. Preterm labor there is a lot of symptom that can pop up before you get that far to prevent preterm labor. The longer the baby is inside the better. Lastly brain damage is heart breaking. The brain is very sensitive to all those toxic put into the mother body that it can eat the baby brain up. It will cause a lot of problems for the baby in the long
A mother who drinks while she is pregnant stands a high risk of harming their unborn child because the alcohol passes through her blood to her baby, and that can harm the development of the baby’s cells. This is most likely to harm the baby’s brain and spinal cord. Many of the common effects of a child suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is: distinctive facial features, growth problems making them smaller than the average child, and learning and behavior problems.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggestion that a pregnant woman should not drink alcohol during pregnancy (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy 2005) has been widely criticized as being unnecessarily paternalistic, but the CDC goes further into explaining that, “Alcohol consumed during pregnancy increases the risk of alcohol related birth defects, including growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, central nervous system impairment, behavioral disorders, and impaired intellectual development” (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy
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... excluded potential risk factors for preterm birth including previous pregnancies and multiple births. Thus, these results should only be applied to the risk of alcohol consumption for primiparous mothers with singleton pregnancies. However, despite the lack of risks identified in this study, alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to disabilities. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 2011), its adverse effects include fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities, social ineptness, depression, and anxiety. The AACAP strongly recommends against pregnant women consuming any form of alcohol at any level. Despite the data presented by Dale et al. (2016), the question of the other risks of alcohol consumption on the fetus was not explored and thus alcohol use during pregnancy should not be condoned solely based on this study.
a patient's birth defects. In other words, FAE is a less severe form of FAS.
Pregnant women who drink often miscarry or have low-birth weight infants, and are at a much greater risk of having a child who has fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can include heart defects, poor coordination, hyperactive behavior; learning and developmental disabilities, and mental retardation. These problems are long term and also come with physical deformities like a narrow head, smaller eyes, and stunted growth. These effects are more common to women who are either heavy drinkers or binge drinkers.
“Can I consume even a miniscule amount of alcohol?” a common, yet preposterous question asked by numerous pregnant women. The common answer given by doctors is yes, you may. Many women don’t know, but according to nofas.org, women who drink as little as two glasses of wine per day can adversely affect their offspring’s effectiveness at school. According to the Institute of Medicine 1996, “Of all the substances of abuse (including heroin, cocaine,and marijuana), alcohol by far produces the most neurobehavioral effects in the fetus”. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a possible outcome of drinking while pregnant. This horrid disease can cause aberrant facial characteristics, growth deficits, brain damage that results in mental retardation, hyperactivity,
Because she was unaware that she was pregnant and she realizes that she is 19 ½ weeks, she has had wine almost on a daily basis with meals with a couple episodes of 2-3 drinks. Fetal alcohol syndrome is difficult to determine regarding overall risks but this risk does exist. Many cases occur when women actually use alcohol throughout the entire pregnancy but there is suggestion that exposures in the first trimester are a potentially risk. Unfortunately, it is difficult to come up with a total overall risk. One concern would be microcephaly and on today’s assessment the fetal head measurements and brain morphology match her dates. the head and cerebellum measurements are at 19 ½ weeks size. The plan at this time is for her to follow-up in 3 weeks for a prenatal visit and at that time labwork will have returned. We did obtain her Prenate I labwork and she was told to contact us if she has any further questions or
Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of developmental and physical birth defects in the United States. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price, in mental and physical deficiencies, for his or her entire life. One study (Phyllis Trujillo Lewis, MA, Philip A. May, PhD, and Virginia C. Shipman, PhD, 2007) asserted that “Numerous studies on alcohol-related birth defects have concluded that maternal drinking, compounded by other risk factors, leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS is a serious birth defect and the most common non-genetic cause of mental retardation” as said by (Hankin, 2002; Abel & Sokol,1986; O’Connor, Kogan, & Findlay, 2002; May & Gossage, in press). It is unknown how much maternal alcohol consumption results in FAS or other related disorders, or why some women who drink are at substantially higher risk of giving birth to a child with alcohol-related disabilities than others (Stratton, Howe, & Battaglia, 1996). However, researchers have identified several maternal risk factors differentially associated with FAS. These include advanced maternal age, number of pregnancies, previous births of a child with FAS, cohabitation with a male partner who drinks heavily, and low socioeconomic status (SES; May et al. 2004; 2008a; Viljoen et al., 2002). FAS is 100% preventable, which makes awareness and education the core preventative method for FAS. It is seen through Lewis, May & Shipman’s research that women who are less educated are less aware of the risks involved with drinking while pregnant.
In conclusion, the harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illicit drugs can be very dangerous to the health and development of a fetus during pregnancy. It is important to educate new mothers on the adverse effects that are associated with the use of these substances. With the right counselling and information provided, we can continue to keep newborns safe in the womb and be able to give them a chance at a healthy and painless future.
In 2006, 49% of all pregnancies in the United States were reported unintended on a national survey.1 The highest rate of preventable birth defects and mental retardation is due to alcohol use.2 In this paper, I will further discuss FAS, the potential effects of binge drinking during the embryonic stage of gestation, and what actions need to be taken in order to reduce the incidences of alcohol-related birth defects. Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy Alcohol is an ethanol containing substance that is a common beverage in many social and private settings. Alcohol is also a teratogen, therefore alcohol consumption and binge drinking potentially pose a substantial risk to the embryo or fetus. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control conducted a telephone survey of women in the age range of 18-44 years regarding alcohol use.3
Aliya, M. H., Lynch, O., Nana, P. N., Alio, A. P., Wilson, R. E., Marty, P. J., . . . Salihu, H. M. (2010). Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and risk of placental previa. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 671-675.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a pattern of birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome tend to have physical abnormalities such as deformed facial characteristics. They are generally born with a variety of emotional and/or intellectual limitations. It is very common for these children to be born with mild to severe forms of mental retardation (Harvard Mental Health, 2004, p. 1). Children that were exposed to alcohol while in the womb of the mother can suffer from an assortment of physical and intellectual impairments in their future.
Although the FDA strongly recommends consume small doses or no doses of caffeine, research has shown that high amounts of caffeine consumption do not increase the risk of miscarriage, congenital malformations, or growth retardation (Brent, Christian, & Diener, 2011). However, heavy drinking can severely affect a woman’s offspring during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) are a cluster of abnormalities and problems that appear in children of mothers who drank alcohol excessively while pregnant. Some abnormalities include facial deformities or defective limbs, face, and heart. Some children who are diagnosed with this disorder have learning disabilities and many score below average on intelligence tests, some including a intellectual disability. Furthermore, some children may have difficulty with their memory. Although women who drink heavily are more likely to produce offspring with FAS, not all heavy drinkers will have babies with this disorder. Drinking 1-2 glasses of beer or wine a week will not necessarily cause fetal alcohol syndrome, but it can still have a negative effect on the baby. Cigarette smoking can also have a detrimental effect on prenatal development, birth, and postnatal
The sperm quality of alcoholic husband may have negative impact on fetus. If the pregnant women drinking, there are high teratogenicity to the fetus. The alcohol leads children to suffer multiple deformities, growth retardation and mental retardation. Therefore, the pregnant women should be absolute alcohol during pregnancy, especially during the fouth trimester. Also, the pregnant women at work or in life should pay attention to try to avoid contact with toxic and harmful substances, such as radiation, pesticides, lead, mercury, cadmium and other substances. The pregnant illness must be treated, but the pregnant women should not abuse drugs, because some drugs have adverse effects on fetal development. Thus, if the pregnant women get sick, they should ask the doctor to treat, no matter what the disease, they should explain to the doctor that they have been pregnant, so that doctors can pay attention to drug