FAS is a medical diagnosis that refers to a specific cluster of anomalies associated with the use of alcohol during pregnancy. The term was coined in 1973 by Jones and Smith, two physicians who were working on the hypothesis that malnutrition in alc

It is generally accepted in the medical community that the severity of fetal abnormalities seen in children with FAS is directly correlated with the amount and duration of the mothers drinking during pregnancy. For example the child of a woman who drank heavily during a short time period while she was pregnant may not exhibit as severe of malformations as a child who’s mother drank heavily throughout pregnancy (Nanson, Bolaria, Snyder, Morse, & Weiner 1995). Sometimes the effects of the mothers drinking are not seen until later in the child’s development when it comes time for him/her to make decisions, solve problems, or remember things. This thought alone may be enough to encourage many pregnant women to limit their intake of ethanol.

ependent woman who seek treatment” (McCuen, 1994).

Studies of incidence of children born FAS tend to be difficult to conduct. As mentioned previously, there are some aspects of the disease that make diagnosis difficult, and there is a tendency of the mothers of these children to “underestimate” their alcohol use (Robles,1996). There also tends to be a decrease in the amount of prenatal care that alcoholic mothers seek, probably due to their disease or socioeconomic status. FAS is thirty times more common in the Native American population than in Caucasians, and six times more common in African Americans (Burd, 1997).

oholic women caused birth defects (Bagheri, Burd, Martsolf, & Klug, 1997). Later it was proven that this disease is caused by the teratogenic effects of the excessive ingestion of alcohol by pregnant women.

One current study that I was able to locate demonstrated the occurrence of FAS in the Native American population versus the Caucasian population in North Dakota. It was reported in North Dakota in 1997 that approximately 40% of the Native American population was considered alcoholic and approximately 60% of this population was considered to be living below the poverty level (Burd, 1997). There were 132 cases of FAS in N.D. (between ’87 and ’97) that were reported to the State Health Department (Burd, 1997).. Of the 132 cases, 106 were Native American and 24 were white. Given the Native American population in North Dakota in this time period it is estimated that the incidence of FAS affecting a N.A. child was 1 in 99. That is an extremely high incidence, and challenging financial burden on a population that is already struggling. “Publicly funded treatment program in the United States are only able to serve 11% of more than an estimated 280,000 pregnant alcohol and drug-d!

Some topics in this essay:
Alcohol Syndrome, Broadwell Saunders, Hess Kenner, Native American, Morse Weiner, Martsolf Klug, North Dakota, Disease Control, Rossett Weiner, Literature Nurses, native american, children born, american population, fetal alcohol, alcohol pregnancy, health care, native american population, fetal alcohol syndrome, pregnant women, alcohol syndrome, children born fas, born fas, birth defects, raised foster homes, foster homes article,