Every year in the U.S., about 40,000 babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD encompasses a range of effects that can occur in someone whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. The effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities. These effects can be can mild to severe and last a lifetime.

The Dangers of Drinking During Pregnancy
When you drink while you’re pregnant, so does your unborn child. The alcohol in your blood passes through the placenta to the baby through the umbilical cord. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage and a severe effect called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS can include the following:

  • Mental retardation
  • Abnormal facial features
  • Hyperactivity
  • Growth problems
  • Birth defects
  • Problems with the central nervous system
  • Vision and/or hearing problems
  • Behavioral problems
  • Learning disabilities

 Other FASD disorders include Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) and Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD). People with ARND may have intellectual disabilities, problems with behavior and learning problems particularly in math. They may also have issues with attention, judgment, and controlling their impulses. Those with ARBD might have problems with their hearing, heart, kidneys, or bones. 

Pregnancy, Drinking, and the Numbers
Don’t drink alcohol while pregnant. Period. There’s never a safe time.

  • Nearly 50% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. 
  • Recent government surveys say that 1 in 12 pregnant women drink during pregnancy while 1 in 30 pregnant women report binge drinking (five or more drinks on any one occasion).
  • Among women who might become pregnant 54% said they wanted to become pregnant; 54% reported alcohol use; 12% reported binge drinking.
  • A 2002 study found that children of mothers who drank only one drink a week were significantly shorter, leaner and had a smaller head circumference than kids of women who did not drink.
  • A 2007 study revealed that kids whose mothers who drank less than one drink a week were more likely to have behavioral and emotional problems at 4 and 8 years of age.
  •  Another study showed that pregnant women who drank five or more drinks a week were 70% more likely to have a stillborn baby than non-drinking women.
  • Drinking during the first three months of pregnancy can cause your baby to have abnormal facial features. Growth and central nervous system problems can occur anytime during pregnancy if you drink.

Diagnosis
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), diagnosing FASD/FAS can be hard because there is no medical test like a blood test. And some other disorders like ADHD have similar symptoms. The CDC lists the following factors that doctors look for when diagnosing FAS:

  • Abnormal facial features (e.g., a smooth ridge between nose and upper lip)
  • Lower-than-average height, weight, or both
  • Central nervous system problems (e.g., small head size, problems with attention and hyperactivity, poor coordination)
  • Prenatal alcohol exposure; although confirmation is not required to make a diagnosis

Lifespan Characteristics of FASD/FAS
According to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, people with FASD/FAS go through life stages exhibiting different characteristics of the disorder as follows:

Infants: low birth weight? irritability? sensitivity to light, noises and touch? poor sucking? slow
development? poor sleep-wake cycles? increased ear infections.
Toddlers: poor memory capability, hyperactivity, lack of fear, no sense of boundaries, need for excessive physical contact.
Grade-school years: have short attention span, poor coordination, difficulty with motor skills.
Older children: have trouble keeping up with school, low self-esteem because they are different from their peers.
Teenagers: lacks control of impulses; cannot distinguish between public and private behaviors.

Treatments
Though there is no cure for FASD/FAS, there are ways to minimize the effects of the disorder. Early intervention can improve a child’s development. And it’s important to realize that no two children with this disorder have the same characteristics. Here are some different treatment options according to the CDC’s website:

  • Medications such as stimulants, antidepressants, and neuroleptics can help manage hyper-activity, focus, and/or depression. 
  • Behavior and Education Therapy such as math tutoring, friendship training, parent-child interaction therapy, and behavior management training.
  • Parent Training: Be consistent in everything you do. Use positive reinforcement. Use concrete language and examples. Concentrate on your child’s strengths.
  • Alternative Approaches such as biofeedback, relaxation therapy, creative art therapy, animal-assisted therapy, auditory training, etc.

Summary
Though there is no cure for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, there is one way to avoid its effects: Don’t drink while you’re pregnant. If you’re pregnant and have been drinking, stop. You can still decrease the risks of some of the effects of FASD.

Sources:
http://www.nofas.org/MediaFiles/PDFs/factsheets/intervention.pdf
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fetalalcoholsyndrome.html
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/data.html