Alcohol and birth defects in children!!?

Question

Does anyone no of anyone who has a birth defect (physical, mental, etc) because their mother drank while pregnant and was it proven that the alcohol is what caused the birth defect? FYI.... I'm not pregnant, didn't drink during my pregnancy and don't plan on having more children. I am just curious!!

Answer 1

Here's an article on drinking before you know you're pregnant. It's from a great book that I highly recommend buying.

"I had a few drinks on several occasions before I knew I was pregnant. Could the alcohol have harmed my baby?

'Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, now beware, drink no wine or strong drink', and angel warns Samson's mother in the Book of Judges.

Let's face it - Samson's mother was lucky. She was able to start ordering Evian when her son was just a gleam in his father's eye. But not many women are lucky enough to receive such an advance notice of conception. And because they're often unaware of their pregnancies until several weeks in, most mum-to-be are apt to have done a few things they wouldn't have done if only they'd known. Which is why your concern is one of the most common brought to the first prenatal visit.

Fortunatly, it's also one of the concerns that can most easily be put aside. There's no evidence that a few drinks on a couple of occasions early in pregnancy will prove harmful to a developing embryo.

Continuing to drink regularly throughout pregnancy, however, is associated with a wide variety of problems in the offspring. That's not surprising when you consider that alcohol enters the fetal bloodstream in approxiametly the same concentrations present in the mother's blood, each drink a pregnant women takes is shared with her baby. Since it takes the fetus twice as long as its mother to eliminate the alcohol from its system, the baby can be at the point of passing out when the mother is just pleasantly tipsy.

Heavy drinking (generally considered to be the consumptin of five or six drinks of wine, beer or distilled spirits a day) throughout pregnancy can result, in addition to many serious obstetrical complications, in what is known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Described as 'the hangover that lasts a lifetime', this condition produces infants who are born undersized, usually mentally deficient, with multiple deformities (particularly of the head and face, limbs, heart, and central nervous system) and have a high mortality rate. Later, those who survive display learning, behavioural and social problems, and generally lack the ability to make sound judgements. The sooner a heavy drinker stops drinking during pregnancy, the less risk to her baby.

The risks of continued drinking are certainly dose related; the more you drink, the more potential danger to your baby. But even moderate consumption (one to two drinks daily or occasional heavy bringeing on five or more drinks), if it occurs throughout pregnancy, is related to a variety of serious problems, including increased risk of micarriage, prematurity, labour and delivery complications, low birthweight, stillbirth, abnormal growth, and developmental problems in childhood. Such drinking has also been linked to the somewhat more subtle fetal alcohol effect (FAE), characterised by numerous developmental and behavioural problems.

Although some women drink lightly during pregnancy - one glass of wine nightly, for instance - and still manage to deliver a healthy baby, there is no assurance this is a wise practice. All that is known about alcohol and pregnancy leads to this suggesttion; although you shouldn't worry about what you drank before you knew you were pregnant, it would be prudent to abstain for the rest of your pregnancy - except perhaps for a celebratory half-glass of wine on a very special occasions (taken with a meal, since food reduces the absorption of alcohol).

That's as easily done as said for some women - especially those who develop a distaste for alcohol in early pregnancy, which may linger through delivery. For others, particularly those who are accustomed to 'unwinding' with cocktails at the end of the day to drinking wine with dinner, abstinence may require a concerted effort, and may include a lifestyle change. If you drink to relax, for example, try substituting for other methods of relaxtion; musuic, warm baths, massage, exercise or reading. If drinking is part of a daily ritual that you won't want to give up, try a Virgin Mary (a Bloody Mary without the vodka) at brunch, sparkling cidar or grape juice or nonalcohol malt beer at dinner, a juice spritzer (half juice, half carbonated water, with a twist) or a Mock Strawberry Daiquiri or Virgin Sangria - served at the accustomed time in the accustomed glasses, with the accustomed ceremony. If your spouse joins you on the wagon (at least while in your company) the ride will be considerably smoother.

'What to expect when you're expecting' Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg and Sandee Hathaway

Answer 2

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Answer 3

My mother smoked and drinked while she was pregnant with me and my birth defect was that i was born very smart lol but on the serious side during her pregnancy one of my lungs hadnt developed and thankfully the doctors noticed it so they told her to stop drinking and smoking and gave her steroids to help my lung

Answer 4

punnit square just answered it!!

Answer 5

Don't even think about it!