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Umbrella term describing the range ofeffects that can occur in an individualwhose mother drank alcohol duringpregnancy.
May include physical, mental, behavioral,and/or learning disabilities with possiblelifelong implications.
Not a diagnosis
Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental
disorder (ARND) Partial FAS (pFAS) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
It is the leading cause of mental retardation in the West.
FASD is preventable.
Each year over 40,000 American children are born with defects because their mother drank alcohol when pregnant.
The range of FASD is more common than disorders such as Autism and Down Syndrome.
Generally accepted incidence rates for FASD are 1 in 100 live births.
There is no known amount of alcohol that is safe for a woman to drink during pregnancy.
FAS is a serious combination of birth defects seen in the offspring of women who have been heavy drinkers (usually at a rate of six or more drinks per day) throughout pregnancy.
Refers to symptoms of children with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure (mothers drank approximately 14 drinks per week) but not all of the physical or behavioral symptoms of FAS.
A teratogen is any substance that produces birth defects by influencing fetal development.
Alcohol crosses the placenta and enters the fetus, causing the level of alcohol in the fetus to approximate the mother’s alcohol level.
There is ever-increasing recognition that alcohol is the most common chemical teratogen presently causing malformations and mental deficiency in the human offspring.
One drink per day throughout pregnancy
adds up to 39 baby bottles full of booze.
Alcohol has the most detrimental effect on both brain development and function.
The infant is not only born with a smaller brain size, but the teratogenic effect of alcohol both reduces the number of brain neurons as well as alters their distribution.
This results in mental deficiency.
Alcohol is a FOOD, a DRUG and a POISON (toxin). It results in: Direct toxic effects on tissues Interference w/ fetal nutrition Interference w/ fetal oxygen supply Interference w/ growth-signaling
chemicals
The alcohol a pregnant woman drinks reaches the fetus within a few minutes.
Alcohol passes through the placenta. This exposure can cause a lifetime of damage.
The central nervous system and the brain grow throughout pregnancy and are affected during any stage of development.
The portion of the central nervous system responsible for: The interpretation of sensory impulses The coordination and control of bodily
functions The exercise of emotion and thought.
First Trimester
Alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain cells.
Heavy drinking during the second trimester, particularly from the 10th-20th week after conception, seems to cause more clinical features of FAS than at other times during pregnancy.
During the 3rd trimester, the hippocampus is greatly affected, leading to problems with encoding visual and auditory information.
The hippocampus plays a fundamental role in memory.
A baby may be born drunk and addicted to alcohol.
Baby will have low birth weight and short length.
Baby will have a small head, flattened nose, thin upper lip, small eyes.
Baby has permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system.
“Failure to thrive”: they lose weight, have poor sucking reflexes, no desire to eat.
Baby may have trouble sleeping; does not develop a regular schedule; irritable, squirmy, difficult to soothe.
Baby may be slow to talk, learning language is a lifelong problem; slow to walk and to be toilet-trained.
The most common characteristics of children born with FAS are as follows:
Growth deficiencyCraniofacial abnormalitiesMusculoskeletal defectsCardiac diseaseNervous system
abnormalitiesNeuro-developmental delayMental deficiency
Friendly and outgoing, sometimes to their disadvantage.
Impulsive; poor judgment. Hyperactive; cannot sit still. Falls behind peers socially and
academically. Easily manipulated by others.
Average IQ is 65. Physically smaller. Learning disabilities:
Difficulty matching words and behaviors Difficulty mastering new skills or remembering
something recently learned (tying shoelaces) Spotty memory Inflexibility of thought Difficulty predicting outcomes Difficulty distinguishing fact from fantasy Difficulty distinguishing friends from
strangers.
Lighter weight babies Jittery and tremulous Difficulties with habituation Disrupted sleep patterns Abnormal reflexes Weaker sucking reflex
Learning and Behavioral Problems Difficulty sustaining attention Difficulty retaining information Difficulty comprehending words Difficulty with word
recall/organizational skills Impulsive behaviors Distractible and Inflexible
Taking in information
Storing information
Recalling information when necessary
Using information appropriately in a specific situation.
Overly sensitive to sensory input Upset by bright lights or loud noises Annoyed by tags in shirts or seams in
socks Bothered by certain textures of food
Have problems sensing where their body is in space.
Do not complete tasks or chores and may appear to be oppositional
Have trouble determining what to do in a given situation
Do not ask questions because they want to fit in
Have trouble with changes in tasks and routine
Have trouble following multiple directions
Say they understand when they do not
Cannot operationalize what they’ve memorized
Misinterpret others’ words, actions, or body movements
Literal in their thinking and interpretation
Repeatedly break the rules Tend not to learn from mistakes or
natural consequences Frequently do not respond to reward
systems Difficulty entertaining themselves Give in to peer pressure Naïve, gullible Difficulty with abstract concepts
Often feel “stupid” or like a failure
Seen as lazy, uncooperative and unmotivated
Have hygiene problems
Aware they’re ‘different’ from others
Often grow up in multiple homes and experience multiple losses.
FAE believed to occur at a rate of approx. 3-5 per 1,000 live births in the U.S.
FAS present in approx. 1-3 per 1,000
Nation spends approximately $4 billion in caring for families affected by FAS
Estimates of lifetime costs: range $1.4 million in 1988 to $2 million in 2008.
Emotional Legal Financial Criminal Social Physical Psychological
Grade appropriate education
Health Professional education
Required warning labels on alcoholic beverages
Public health information campaign
Chemical dependence treatment programs
Community support systems
Improved screening and referral systems