Consuming alcohol during pregnancy has many harmful consequences to a fetus. As many as 12,000 infants are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), a disease solely caused by the exposure of the fetus to alcohol during pregnancy. All cases of FAS are 100 percent preventable—if the mother does not drink while pregnant, the child cannot be afflicted with FAS. While there is only one cause for the syndrome, much potential damage can be caused to the child: physical abnormalities, mental disabilities, and social and behavioral problems.

Physical abnormalities are the most obvious effect of the alcohol on the fetus

Skeletal deformities can be caused by bone malformation during fetal development, resulting in deformed ribs and sternum, or a curved spine. Sometimes the child has bent, fused, webbed, or missing fingers and toes. Facial deformities are one of the main characteristics used for diagnosing the disease at birth. FAS infants typically have small eye openings, droopy eyelids, and

After reading about the physical abnormalities, mental disabilities, and social and behavioral problems caused by fetal exposure to alcohol, one is more likely to understand the importance of educating pregnant women of the risks involved in drinking. Although as many as 12,000 infants in the United States are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, all of these cases are 100 percent preventable if the mother does not drink alcohol. If more women were educated about the harmful consequences of drinking while pregnant, the occurrences of FAS could be reduced significantly.

While not as immediately obvious, mental disabilities are another serious effect of FAS. These occur because of abnormal prenatal brain development caused by exposure to alcohol. Learning disorders are just one of the effects. FAS victims tend to have lower than normal IQs and delayed language development. They often have poor memory retrieval and poor comprehension of abstract concepts. Hyperactivity is often a result of damage to the temporal lobes of brain and the child can have de

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