Effects of Alcohol on Prenatal Development
- Submitted by: teach2
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- Date Submitted: 03/22/2015 05:37 PM
- Pages: 4
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Every decision a mother makes effects her child while she is carrying. While a baby is developing many things can go right or wrong, and many things can have a widespread effect on their development, both in the uterus and throughout their entire lives. It seems that the use of alcohol and other teratogens has one of the greatest impacts on prenatal development. Babies’ development is most fragile in the prenatal stage. This is when all neural development happens and the organs are developed. If even one thing goes slightly wrong, these delicate pieces could be ruined.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are the most common developmental disorders in the United States. It has been reported that about one in every one hundred adults and children suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders could be so easy to prevent. If there is any possibility a woman could be pregnant, she simply should not drink alcohol. She also should not drink if she is trying to get pregnant. It helps if the woman’s partner stops drinking as well to help support her and to show her that she is not in it alone.
Diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is difficult. To diagnose a child with one of these disorders, there has to be valid proof that the mother used alcohol while pregnant with this child. Studies have shown that women are more likely to admit to other drug use to their physicians than they are to admit alcohol use. Also, children who are born into families with heavy alcohol use often are not raised in an appropriate manner. They may suffer learning disabilities and other problems that are not caused by the alcohol usage. Sometimes children are put up for adoption and the new parents have no way of knowing if the child’s birth mother used alcohol while she was pregnant. There are no genetic markers that show fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The leftovers from alcohol do not last long because it all gets filtered out; this is...
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are the most common developmental disorders in the United States. It has been reported that about one in every one hundred adults and children suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders could be so easy to prevent. If there is any possibility a woman could be pregnant, she simply should not drink alcohol. She also should not drink if she is trying to get pregnant. It helps if the woman’s partner stops drinking as well to help support her and to show her that she is not in it alone.
Diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is difficult. To diagnose a child with one of these disorders, there has to be valid proof that the mother used alcohol while pregnant with this child. Studies have shown that women are more likely to admit to other drug use to their physicians than they are to admit alcohol use. Also, children who are born into families with heavy alcohol use often are not raised in an appropriate manner. They may suffer learning disabilities and other problems that are not caused by the alcohol usage. Sometimes children are put up for adoption and the new parents have no way of knowing if the child’s birth mother used alcohol while she was pregnant. There are no genetic markers that show fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The leftovers from alcohol do not last long because it all gets filtered out; this is...