Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Guide for Expecting Parents, Caregivers, and Families

Alcohol is a “teratogen,” something known to cause abnormalities in a fetus after prenatal exposure. Alcohol consumed by a pregnant person can reach the fetus and interfere with development of the brain and other body organs. A child exposed to alcohol before birth may face a lifetime of challenges from what are called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

• Diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome is given to infants with characteristic findings born to women who used alcohol excessively during pregnancy.
• Your doctor, local FAS support group or local clinic can help find the right program for you.
• Children with fetal alcohol syndrome have facial features such as small eyes, a thin upper lip, and a smooth philtrum (the groove between nose and upper lip).
• Babies whose mothers drank alcohol during their pregnancy can be born with birth defects and developmental disabilities.
• FASD can happen when alcohol in the mother’s blood passes to her baby through the placenta.
• Many of its symptoms can seem like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

What’s the difference between fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)?

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most severe form of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a range of conditions caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb. FAS symptoms include distinctive facial features, lower-than-average height and weight, and problems with brain and nervous system development. There is no single test for fetal alcohol syndrome (a lifelong condition), but early detection and treatment can greatly improve the lives of children with FAS. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person exposed to alcohol before birth. These conditions can affect each person in different ways and can range from mild to severe. People with FASDs can have lifelong effects, including problems with behavior and learning as well as physical problems.

How is FASD treated?

• Alcohol can change the taste of your milk, and this may be objectionable to some babies.
• This article outlines how much alcohol it takes to cause FAS.
• NOFASD has been at the forefront of supporting people and families living with FASD across Australia for a remarkable 25 years.
• FASDs can only happen when a pregnant person consumes alcohol.
• This is because it takes time for your body to build up enough hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone that develops in early pregnancy) to be detected on a pregnancy test.

Although medication use may be unavoidable in many children with FASDs, it is important to exercise prudence when prescribing. Treatment services for people with FASDs are most effective when they are strengths-based and address a person’s specific impairments and needs. Because brain growth takes place throughout pregnancy, stopping alcohol use at any stage will improve the baby’s health and well-being. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition that happens when drinking alcohol causes serious problems.

How Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Treated?

For instance, a study found that FAS was reported more frequently at a large, inner-city hospital serving underserved populations, whereas it was underreported at a large, suburban hospital. Diagnosing FASDs can be hard because there is no medical test, like a blood test, for these conditions. And other disorders, such as ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and Williams syndrome, have some symptoms like FAS. Tony Loneman, a character https://ecosoberhouse.com/ in Tommy Orange’s 2018 novel There There, was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, which he calls “the Drome”. Men drink more, are more likely to binge drink and are almost four times more likely to develop alcohol use disorder than women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If a person is concerned about drinking during pregnancy or worried that their baby may have FAS, they should speak with a doctor as soon as they can.

What Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)?

• Your doctor may try to confirm prenatal alcohol exposure, and if so, how much.
• Most often, a healthcare provider can diagnose FASDs based on the mother’s history and how the baby looks.
• Instead, these secondary effects happen as a result of having FAS.
• According to the CDC, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant.

No, the placenta does not filter alcohol from a person’s blood. Alcohol transmits easily from a pregnant person’s bloodstream to the bloodstream of the fetus. Because the fetus’s body cannot process alcohol well, alcohol can stay in the body for a long time.

Right now, people with FASD experience scattered, inconsistent support across Canada. The bill describes a development plan for a framework that would address that. This includes consulting caregivers, self-advocates and representatives of provincial and territorial governments. The fundamental component drunken fetal syndrome to these improvements is knowledge of FASD. The first published investigations into the effects of maternal exposure to toxins on birth defects in the 1950s and ’60s were met with skepticism and disbelief. Today, it is widely accepted that maternal exposures to certain drugs cause birth defects.

What Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

• Alcohol is a “teratogen,” something known to cause abnormalities in a fetus after prenatal exposure.
• During the first three months of pregnancy, important stages of development happen with the face and organs such as the heart, bones, brain and nerves.
• This can happen even prior to a person recognizing that they are pregnant.

Several factors influence the risk, including how much a person drinks and their overall health status, environment, and genetics. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be dangerous to you and your baby. Babies born to people who drink during pregnancy may have serious lifelong health problems, including FASDs. Neurobehavioral disabilities in FASD include deficient global intellectual ability and cognition, and poor behavior, self-regulation, and adaptive skills.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAQs

Fetal alcohol syndrome and other FASDs can be prevented by not drinking any alcohol during pregnancy. A woman shouldn’t drink if she’s trying to get pregnant or thinks she may be pregnant. If a pregnant woman does drink, the sooner she stops, the better it will be for her baby’s health. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome have facial features such as small eyes, a thin upper lip, and a smooth philtrum (the groove between nose and upper lip).