All Posts tagged is it safe to drink while preganant

When you’re pregnant, everything you do and every choice you make impacts your unborn baby. That means that when you consume alcohol, your baby does too. Fetal alcohol syndrome can have a severe impact on your newborn and his or her ability to develop into a healthy infant. In the worst case scenario, the consequences could be fatal. Whether you drink only on occasion, daily, or know that you have a substance abuse addiction, all women who are pregnant or could become pregnant need to understand the causes and risks of this dangerous condition.

What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition that impacts newborns that are exposed to alcohol during the mother’s pregnancy.

Causes of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Consuming alcohol while pregnant is the cause of fetal alcohol syndrome. When pregnant, alcohol enters the bloodstream and travels to the developing fetus via the placenta. For a fetus with a slower ability to metabolize alcohol, the exposure results in higher blood alcohol concentrations compared to an adult that can negatively impact the fetus’ delivery of oxygen and nutrition. It can also affect the healthy development of organs and tissues. While there is no defined quantity of alcohol that is considered the tipping point at which a baby will suffer the negative consequences of fetal alcohol syndrome, the more a pregnant mother drinks while pregnant, the higher the risk to her baby.

What are the Symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause physical, emotional, and developmental issues and brain damage to a newborn. Issues may include:

• Distinctive facial features such as a small head, small eyes, a short, upturned nose, a thin upper lip, and a smooth area between the nose and upper lip.
• Deformities of the limbs, joints, and fingers.
• Slowed physical development before and after birth.
• An undersized brain.
• Visual or auditory impairments.
• Heart defects.
• Problems with kidneys.
• Poor social skills.
• Difficulty getting along with others.
• Trouble adapting to change.
• Difficulties staying on task.
• Problems with behavior and impulse control.
• Difficulty with time management.
• Cognitive and central nervous system issues such as:
  • Poor balance and coordination.
  • Poor memory.
  • Intellectual disabilities such as learning disorders or delayed development.
  • Poor attention span.
  • Difficulty processing information, problem solving, and reasoning and judgment.
  • Hyperactivity.
  • Mood swings.

The severity of such physical and behavioral issues may vary significantly among children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, but none of these defects are reversible as the child ages.

There is no amount of alcohol that is considered safe to consume while pregnant. If you are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant and are struggling to eliminate alcohol consumption from your daily life, talk to your OBGYN. He or she can provide you with the support and resources needed to make positive lifestyle changes that will protect your baby and give him or her the best chance for a healthy life.