Topic Overview
What effect does alcohol have on a fetus?
A woman
who drinks alcohol while she is pregnant may harm her developing baby (fetus).
Alcohol can pass from the mother’s blood into the baby’s blood. It can damage
and affect the growth of the baby’s cells. Brain and spinal cord cells are most
likely to have damage.
The term "fetal alcohol spectrum disorder"
(FASD) describes the range of alcohol effects on a child. The problems range
from mild to severe. Alcohol can cause a child to have physical or mental
problems that may last all of his or her life.
The effects of
alcohol can include:
- Distinctive facial features. A child may have a small
head, flat face, and narrow eye openings, for instance. This gets more
obvious by age 2 or 3.
- Growth problems. Children who were exposed
to alcohol before they were born may be smaller than other children of the same
age.
- Learning and behavior problems.
- Birth defects.
- Problems bonding or feeding as a newborn.
Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy can also lead to
miscarriage
, stillbirth, or a baby being
born early
.
How much alcohol is safe?
When a pregnant woman
drinks alcohol, so does her baby. Heavy drinking (5 or more drinks on at least
one occasion) during pregnancy can severely affect a developing baby. Studies
do not yet show if it is safe for a pregnant woman to drink a small amount of
alcohol. People react to alcohol in different ways, so no one can really say
for sure how much alcohol (if any) is safe.
Although the risk is
higher with heavy alcohol use, any amount of alcohol may affect your developing
baby. You can prevent FASD by not drinking at all while you are pregnant. That is what many doctors suggest.
The effects that alcohol has on a
developing baby depend on:
- How much, how often, and at what stage of
pregnancy the mother drinks alcohol. The worst effects often are related to
heavy alcohol use.
-
Whether the mother used other drugs, smoked, or had poor health for any reason
while she was pregnant. In these cases, the child is more likely to have
problems.
- Traits passed down through families. Some babies are more
likely to be harmed by alcohol than others. It’s not clear why, but there may
be a genetic link.
What can you do if you're pregnant and have had alcohol?
Try to talk openly with your doctor if you have had alcohol while you're
pregnant. The earlier you tell your doctor, the better the chances for your
child.
If your doctor knows to look for FASD-related problems
while you're pregnant, he or she can watch your baby’s health both before and
after birth. And the doctor will know to do more tests, if needed, as your
child grows.
If you think you might have a drinking problem, talk
with your doctor, counselor, or other support person. Doing this can help you
to see and address how alcohol may affect many parts of your life, including
your pregnancy.
The child’s father as well as friends and family
members all can help the pregnant woman avoid alcohol and seek help if needed.
When are alcohol effects on a fetus diagnosed?
Signs of FASD don't always appear at birth. A doctor may be able to spot
severe alcohol effects (
fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS
) in the
child at birth. But less severe effects, such as behavior or learning problems,
may not be noticed until the child is in school.
Sometimes the
doctor can find severe problems before the baby is born. If your doctor knows
about your alcohol use, he or she can order a test (
ultrasound
) to look for signs of FAS in your baby,
such as heart defects or growth delays. The cause of problems that are found
during the test may not be clear. But the findings alert the doctor to any
special care a baby may need after he or she is born.
What is the treatment for a child born with alcohol effects?
Caring for a child born with alcohol effects takes
patience. Help for your child may include extra support in school, social skills
training, job training, and
counseling
. Community services may be able to help
your family handle the costs of and emotions from raising your child.
Finding alcohol effects early, even if they are mild, gives a
child the best chance to reach his or her full potential in life. Finding the problem early may help
prevent problems in school and mental health problems, such as
substance abuse
,
depression
, or
anxiety
.
There is no treatment that can reverse the impact of alcohol on your baby's health. And there's no treatment that can make the effects less severe.
