, 1991).
The adverse effects associated with maternal use of alcohol range from growth deficiency, brain structure and function abnormalities, and physical abnormalities of the head .
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and face. The extent of the physical characteristics and/or mental impairment characteristic of FAS/FES children simply depends on when and how much the mother drank (Whitney, Rolles, 1999). The alcohol molecule is very tiny and passes easily from mother to baby through the placenta. Since the fetus gets its nourishment in the womb through the placenta, when the mother drinks alcohol, it goes right into the baby's system where it can stay for days, causing the unborn child to be intoxicated. (Little et al., 1990).
Although the alcohol can affect the development of all cells and organs, the brain is particularly vulnerable to the effect of alcohol exposure, and damage can occur throughout pregnancy. The mental impairment associated with FAS/FES is permanent brain damage which leads to severe behavior problems, memory deficits, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and a lower than normal intellectual ability ranging from borderline intellect to severely mentally retarded. More subtle damage can occur that is "like a buck shot-scattered holes in the brain that affect whatever area that was developing at the time, causing brain cell death, migration of cells to the wrong place, or tangles in the neurons with inaccurate connections" (Institute of Medicine, 1996). The corpus callosum of the brain is the middle area of the brain that connects the right and left side of the brain, and allows messages to be sent from the left brain to the right and vice versa. The left-brain controls rules, consequences, concrete ideas, practical details, and orderly consequences. The right brain controls abstract thinking, emotions and feelings, creativity and intuition.
