Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

With every sip that a pregnant woman took from the icy can of Budweiser, the tiny baby growing inside her belly became more and more drunk. Nothing, not even crack or cocaine, is as devastating to a fetus as alcohol, and it does more damage to a developing brain and body than any illegal during (Zaragoza). Devastatingly, still hundreds of thousands of pregnant women drink in our country, although most of them know they shouldn't but still do. Not knowing that when a women drinks 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. Yet many pregnant women still drink alcohol, "it's estimated that each year in the United States, 1 in every 750 infants is born with a pattern of physical, developmental, and functional problems referred to as fetal alcohol syndrome, while another 40,000 are born with fetal alcohol effects" (Zaragoza). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is defined as a, "condition resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol and marked by decreased alertness, hyperactivity, varying degrees of mental retardation, motor problems, heart defects and facial abnormalities.

Fetal Alcohol syndrome is a serious health problem that affects pregnant women and their babies, and the only way to help prevent is by knowing: the cause of the problem, size of the problem, symptoms, long-term effects, myths, and treatments or what we can do to help.

The cause of the problem is that "alcohol in a pregnant women's bloodstream circulates to the fetus by crossing the placenta. There the alcohol interferes with the ability of the fetus to receive sufficient oxygen and nourishment for normal cell development in the brain and other body organs" (Hanson). Unfortunlently, many people falsely believe that even a single drink during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. If this were true, the majority of the populations of dozens of countries around the world would suffer the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. It's ridiculous how some pregnant women have actually became frantic upon realizing they inadvertently eaten salad that has wine vinegar dressing, fearing that their children would be born suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. In reality there is absolutely no evidence that light drinking, leads to fetal alcohol syndrome. Actually, most women who are light or moderate drinkers choose not to drink during pregnancy. The real problem is found among frequent heavy drinkers, who most often are alcoholics consuming heavily on a daily basis throughout their pregnancies (Hanson). That's because, "alcohol easily passes the placental barrier and the fetus is less equipped to eliminate alcohol than its mother, the fetus tends to receive a high concentration of alcohol, which loners longer than it would in the mother's system, but no evidence exists that can determine exactly how much alcohol ingestion will produce birth defects" (Nicholson)

Fetal Alcohol syndrome affects three out of every 1,000 births, causing an estimated 12,000 children to be born with the condition each year in the United States, which make the size of the cause enormous in our country. Only about 20% of affected children receive a diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome, when the other 80% have partial fetal alcohol syndrome or alcohol related neurological disorder. In a study of women between 18 and 44 years of age showed that 10% used alcohol during pregnancy and 2% engaged in binge drinking (Zaragoza).

The damage caused by maternal drinking is also devastating to society and while numbers vary, some believe the annual cost of caring for all people damaged parentally by alcohol is as high as $9 billion (Zaragoza). Not to mention, that for the children, their future seems almost hopeless to them. It's horrible to mention but we're creating a group of children who will be unemployable, because they cannot function properly, and they'll have the lowest self-esteem because they'll probably end up becoming dependent upon others. This is all because of prenatal alcohol exposure, and it's the major cause of destroyed human potential for an enormous group of people.

These possible symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome can be overwhelming to these children. They can have growth deficiencies, such as: small body size and weight, slower than normal development and failure to catch up. Also, skeletal deformities like: deformed ribs and sternum, curved spine, hip disclosure, limited movement of joints, small head, bent/fused/wedded or even missing fingers and toes. Even facial abnormalities like: small eye openings, drooping eyelids, nearsightedness, failure of eyes to move in same direction, short upturned nose, sunken nasal bridge, flat or absent groove between nose and upper lip, opening in roof of mouth, small jaw, thin upper lip, low-set or poorly formed ears, and skin webbing between eyes and base of nose. There are also organ deformities, such as: heart murmurs, genital malformations, kidney and urinary defects. Lastly central nervous system handicaps like: small brain, faulty arrangements of brain cells and connective tissues, mental retardation which can be usually mild to moderate but occasionally severe, learning disabilities, short attention span, irritability in infancy, hyperactivity in childhood, poor body, hand, and finer coordination (Smith). Children with all these possible symptoms are the children in the special Ed class, mostly getting picked on by the normal children.

Unfortunlently it can be worse with long-term effects and problems associated with fetal alcohol syndrome, which tends to intensify as children move into adulthood, and these can include mental health problems, troubles with the law, and the inability to live independently (Nicholson). "Often in kids with fetal alcohol syndrome, the behavior can appear as mere belligerence or stubbornness, and they even may score well on intelligence tests, but their behavioral deficits often interfere with their ability to succeed" (Nicholson). When children with fetal alcohol syndrome reach adulthood, they have a risk of alcoholism, drug dependence, depression, and other psychiatric disorders (Kalat).

The immature brain of the fetus is highly