Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Birth Defects Are 100% Preventable
By the staff of Heartland Human Services
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a disorder occurring in babies whose mother drank alcohol while pregnant. Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) is similar to FAS but with less severe symptoms. It entails a series of mental and physical birth defects that are often severe and always permanent. This includes mental retardation, disorders of the central nervous system, facial abnormalities, impaired growth and behavioral problems. It is estimated the cost of care for one child with FAS/FAE is around $1.4 million in his or her lifetime.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (1991) reported FAS/FAE as the leading known cause of mental retardation with at least 5,000 affected babies born every year. This is equivalent to one out of every 750 children born.
It is also reported FAS/FAE is not nearly as often diagnosed as it should be, perhaps due to fewer than 10 percent of medical schools require students to complete course work on the disorder.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and FAE are 100 percent preventable. Medical experts state that no amount of alcohol has proven safe to drink while pregnant, so expectant mothers should completely refrain from drinking alcohol. This also includes over-the-counter medications containing alcohol such as cough syrups and liquid cold/sleep remedies.
It is also important for those trying to get pregnant to abstain as harmful effects begin very early in pregnancy. Facial abnormalities form during days 15 to 22 of the pregnancy, when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant.