Fighting Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Your teenage child doesn’t understand consequences. She has problems with fine and gross motor skills. She has poor joint mobility. She has speech delays. And you drank during your pregnancy. She could suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the name given to describe mental and physical birth defects that develop when expectant mothers drink excessive amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. In particular women who drink the equivalent of three ounces of pure alcohol each day, six average mixed drinks or six cans of beer, frequently give birth to babies who have the full range of defects known as FAS.
Researchers don’t know how alcohol causes damage to the fetus. But they do know that alcohol passes directly through the placenta to the fetus soon after being consumed by the mother. A baby gets as much alcohol as a mother drinks. However, because an unborn baby’s organs are immature, the alcohol is broken down much more slowly than in an adult.
Some women who drink heavily throughout pregnancy have children with no signs of FAS. Some who drank sparingly have babies with alcohol related damage. There currently is no way to predict which babies will be damaged by alcohol. For this reason, the safest advice is no to drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Consuming alcohol during pregnancy also raises the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and death in early infancy.
FAS can include mental retardation, growth deficiencies, central nervous system dysfunction, facial abnormalities, heart defects, and memory, learning and behavior problems. In severe cases, the FAS survivor may not be able to care for himself or herself in adulthood. In all cases, the problems are irreversible and last a lifetime. What’s worst is that in all cases they could have been prevented. Some babies do not get full blown FAS, but have other problems of a less pronounced nature.
To make a diagnosis, be honest with your doctor and discuss drinking during pregnancy. Watch for signs and symptoms that are associated with FAS during infancy.
The range of consequences to drinking while pregnant is known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders which includes alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (intellectual disabilities or behavioral and learning problems caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy); alcohol-related birth defects (physical birth defects caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy); fetal alcohol syndrome (the severe end of the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders including neurodevelopmental disorder and birth defects caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy); partial fetal alcohol syndrome (presence of some signs and symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome, but doesn’t meet the diagnostic criteria); neurobehavior disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (problems functioning due to neurocognitive impairments such as problems with mental health, memory, impulse control, communication and daily living skills, caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy).
Treatment is in the form of early intervention services at school and home. For instance, a special education teacher, speech therapist, physical and occupational therapist, and a psychiatrist may be a team that can benefit your child towards learning life skills, communication and social skills. Finding the right kind of help early can be crucial in your child’s development.
Some suggestions for fostering a nurturing and caring environment that will booster your child’s development include implementing daily routines, creating and enforcing simple rules and limits, keeping things simple by using concrete and specific language, using repetition to reinforce learning, recognizing your child’s strengths and limitations, pointing out and using rewards to reinforce acceptable behavior, teaching skills for daily living and social interaction, and guarding against your child being taken advantage of by others.
If you or a loved one have a child who might have fetal alcohol syndrome, don’t be afraid to see your doctor. Your doctor is a wealth of resources when it comes to the best way to battle addiction. But you have to do the work needed to get you and your child an advantageous possible outcome.
