Friday, April 20, 2012

fetal alcohol syndrome


                                                Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Some people don’t really know what fetal alcohol syndrome is. It’s when a pregnant woman drinks during her pregnancy and the alcohol crosses the placenta and to the fetus.  There is no safe amount of alcohol to drink during the nine months of being pregnant. Some doctors say it’s ok to drink a glass of wine. But there are a lot of risks and there can be some complications if you decide to drink that glass of wine. I personally don’t think that any mother should take that risk of there being something wrong with their baby
A baby with fetal alcohol syndrome can have many of the following symptoms
·         Poor growth while the baby is in the womb and after the baby is born
·         Decreased muscle tone and poor coordination
·         Delayed development and problems in four major areas: thinking, speech, movement, or social skills 
·         Heart defects such as ventricular septal defect or atrial septal defect
·         Problems with the face including:
o   narrow, small eyes with large epicanthal folds
o   small head
o   small upper jaw
o   smooth groove in upper lip
o   smooth and thin upper lip
Some of the tests and signs that you baby has fetal alcohol syndrome is if you go to a check up with the doctor and the doctor sees that the baby has a heart murmur or any other heart problems. As the baby is growing in the womb there can be many signs of mental development. There can also be problems with the face and bones.
The tests include:
·         blood alcohol level in pregnant woman who shows signs of being drunk
·         brain imaging studies after child is born
·         pregnancy ultrasound
When the baby is born there can be many complications such as abnormal heart structure, behavior problems, infant death, mental retardation, problems in the structure of the eyes, head, nose, or mouth, poor growth before birth, and slow growth and poor coordination after birth.

There are ways to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome like not drinking to begin with. Some pregnant women so think that is they drink during the first three months of their pregnancy it won’t hurt because the baby is barley starting to develop. Well in reality drinking during the first the months is the worst and there is a greater chance of you having a miscarriage. If you are a mother and you are drinking during your pregnancy you should seek some counseling or join an alcohol abuse rehabilitation program and be checked closely by a doctor.
 

1 comment:

  1. Whoever wrote the last paragraph on this page is obviously not the same person who wrote the rest of the article. It is filled with grammar and syntax errors. Because of this, your site looks unreliable.

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