by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: April 26, 2009

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is one of many conditions falling under the non-clinical term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) that describes ranges of effects babies are subjected to when their mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy. FASD effects on babies may lead to mental, physical, behavioral, and learning difficulties that have potential for lasting a child's lifetime.

FAS is one of the harshest consequences of pregnancy drinking and could cause said lifelong physical and mental difficulties. Doctors associate FAS with problems of the central nervous system, growth deficiencies, and abnormal facial features in which babies have smaller than usual heads, narrowing eye openings, and flat faces. Babies born with FAS may have problems with growth in that they may not be as big as their peers. Birth defects associated with the urinary tract, bones, heart, eyes and ears; communication deficiencies, vision disorders, low attention spans, plus memory and learning deficiencies are also possible. FAS babies may acquire as few as one and as many as all these disorders. As a result, babies born with FAS are likely to have socialization deficiencies and school related difficulties that lead to poor performance.

The method in which alcohol causes FASDs including FAS in babies is when pregnant women consume alcohol they provide opportunities for portions of the alcohol to pass from mommy's blood to unborn baby's blood. While in an unborn baby's bloodstream, alcohol can impair baby cell growth. Brain cells along with spinal cord cells are at most risk for alcohol related debilitating impacts.

Since women who otherwise would not have consumed alcohol if they had known they were pregnant drink while pregnant; and other women become pregnant despite obvious drinking problems, medical professionals recommend that pregnant women discuss drinking while pregnant with their doctors so doctors can conduct prenatal care with possible FAS in mind. For example, when viewing ultrasounds doctors can place more focus on baby growth rates and look for potential heart defects. Detecting heart problems alerts doctors babies need a particular type of care immediately following birth.

Babies born with no clear signs of FAS may have other FASD problems such as Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). Babies with ARND conditions may not have many FAS related deficiencies, however, they may still have problems with behavior and learning. Included with these problems are difficulties remembering and discerning facts, poor attention spans, difficulties computing mathematics, and self control issues.

Whereas drinking alcohol heavily while pregnant can cause expectant women to miscarry, deliver prematurely, and give birth to stillborns, an irony of FAS is that it tops the chart as a preventable cause of birth defects and a preventable cause of mental retardation.

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