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Alcohol during preg & health problems
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause lifelong health problems Imagine a world with a single, magical cure for attention deficit disorder, mental retardation, seizures , developmental delay, deafness, physical deformity, sociopathic behavior, social problems and congenital heart defects.
In reality, no imagination is needed -- many, though by no means all, cases of these life-altering conditions can be attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome disorders.
The cure? Zero alcohol consumption during pregnancy .
Consider these startling statistics from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services and the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome:
Every year, 40,000 newborns are affected by FASD -- more than all the cases of autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida and sudden infant death combined.
FASD is the chief known cause of mental retardation.
The lifetime costs of caring for one person with a fetal alcohol disorder can reach $2 million.
Ninety-four percent of people affected by FASD have mental health problems, many of which affect their ability to learn, work and live independently.
FASD costs $6 billion in health care, special education and prison dollars annually.
All of these result from something that is 100 percent preventable, simply by making every woman who is pregnant, or considering getting pregnant, aware that she should not drink any alcohol.
September was Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Month.
FASD is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy.
There are several types of conditions related to FASD, all of which result in permanent, life-long conditions that can have a devastating effect.
The most serious is the irreversible damage that alcohol can cause to the fetus' developing brain and nervous system;
Affected children have smaller, less developed brains, which impacts learning, memory, speech and concentration, and can trigger problems including hyperactivity, and lack of impulse control and social skills.
These children may also suffer physical abnormalities, such as heart defects, kidney and liver problems and bone deformations.
Vision and hearing can be affected.
The condition can even show in their faces: small eyes, a short, flat nose, a thin upper lip and the lack of a philtrum (the groove that goes from the upper lip to the bottom of the nose), are typical in many people with an FASD.
Often, these children become the ''problem child'' in a classroom because they cannot calm themselves, do not understand appropriate behaviors and lack a well-formed conscience.
Eventually, 60 percent will have problems with the law, starting as teens and progressing into full incarceration.
Our country spends billions of dollars each year to cover the cost of health, social services and criminal justice systems that are forced to deal with the aftermath of drinking during pregnancy.
Virtually everyone knows that women shouldn't drink, smoke or use any drugs while pregnant.
But since it's not clear what amount of alcohol during pregnancy leads to FASD, many people, including some doctors, think that a little alcohol can't hurt.
The problem with saying that a ''little'' drinking during pregnancy is OK is that the ''safe'' intake level will probably never be known.
Some mothers report that they drank steadily during their pregnancy and their child has no signs of FASD, while others drank minimal amounts of alcohol and their child suffered the lifelong consequences of that choice.
Clearly, just not drinking during pregnancy is the safest route.
Abstinence should last during breast feeding, because alcohol passes, undiluted, through breast milk to the child.
Infants' brains and bodies continue vital development after birth that can be affected by alcohol.
So there simply is no safe amount of alcohol consumption if you are pregnant or breast feeding.
If you are pregnant, stop drinking immediately.
If you are trying to get pregnant, do not drink.
If you are breast feeding, don't have that glass of wine to relax.
If you want to quit but can't, contact Alcoholics Anonymous or your local counseling agency.
Many of those services are free.
A beer at a bar may cost $3, but FASD will cost the victim and the family untold misery, and cost our society millions of dollars.
All because of a problem that is 100 percent preventable.
We can no longer afford the attitude that it is just one drink.
Jennifer Britland is a program specialist for the Center for Humanistic Change, a Bethlehem nonprofit agency that specializes in alcohol, drug, tobacco and bullying prevention education.
Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-namehere_mcdqi5.7045074oct07,0,4945161.story
No matter what decision you make in your life, or your child's life - there will always be someone just waiting to tell you what a stupid idiot you are for doing so...
I've seen the village and I wouldn't want it raising my children.
Do not assume you know what the silent majority is thinking.
Some of my blogs:
Frugal Baby Tips
Pregnancy Stories By Age - 43-56+yrs old!
You Can Get Pregnant in Your 40's
Frugal Freebies
NEW!
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I was with them up to the point about breastfeeding.
Not a single mention about how you can drink and wait to bf'd because the alcohol clears from the milk.
How unfortunate they got that wrong.
They also talked about not drinking in pg as being a "magical cure" for all those disorders, but those disorders exist even when women don't drink in pg, so that's misleading too.
As for the main point of the article, I agree with no drinking during pg.
Its not like you can wait for it to clear your blood like you can when breastfeeding.
"The last of human freedoms - the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
" - Viktor Frankl.
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They lost me in the first paragraph when they called it a magical cure.
I never drank during pregnancy, in fact I don't drink at all - and yet my son could be the poster child for ADHD!
I can see how it would increase the risk, but it is not the only cause.
Though I think I once read a study about how the father's drinking prior to pregnancy could affect the child.
Not sure that it's been proven though.
They also lost me when she stated that alcohol passes directly into the milk, as if baby is having a cocktail of alcohol & BM!
Personally, I would not to drink during BFing, and I do have some concerns that babies whose mothers drink & BF may be more likely to drink heavier as adults (same might be true for smokers) because babies get used to the taste.
I have read some studies on this, but I don't know that it's been proven.
Makes sense to me though.
I thought that my sister looked like she had FAS features, but was told at a FAS information booth that the FAS features do not last past 9 months old?
I do know my mom was drinking at the time she was pregnant, but I have no idea how much.
However, her father was an alcoholic, so if the sperm theory works, she would have gotten a double whammy.
No matter what decision you make in your life, or your child's life - there will always be someone just waiting to tell you what a stupid idiot you are for doing so...
I've seen the village and I wouldn't want it raising my children.
Do not assume you know what the silent majority is thinking.
Some of my blogs:
Frugal Baby Tips
Pregnancy Stories By Age - 43-56+yrs old!
You Can Get Pregnant in Your 40's
Frugal Freebies
NEW!
Weekly Giveaway from Frugal Freebies !
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I don't think that's true that the facial features go away after 9 months old.
That doesn't sound right, from what I recall reading in the past.
I read about the study where they initially discovered this as a disorder (had been investigating low weight births) and they had pictures of the kids who all had similar features, they were not babies at the time IIRC.
"The last of human freedoms - the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
" - Viktor Frankl.
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That's what I thought, and I tried to argue with the woman manning the booth, but she was pretty convinced that it was true, and I walked away wondering if there was new research I hadn't read about.
I found this: and it is definitely an older child.
http://depts.washington.edu/fasdpn/htmls/fas-face.htm
~*~ Catherine, mom to Jason, Michael & Joshua
No matter what decision you make in your life, or your child's life - there will always be someone just waiting to tell you what a stupid idiot you are for doing so...
Do not assume you know what the silent majority is thinking.
Some of my blogs:
Pregnancy Stories By Age - 43-56+yrs old!
You Can Get Pregnant in Your 40's
Frugal Freebies
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