The other day when I was in a pub with my friends I saw a couple of women in fairly advanced stage of pregnancy gulping down beer after beer with full abandon. I was shocked and almost felt like going up to them and giving them a little shake and informing them how it could affect their newborn. I only prayed that this was one off drinking episodes with these ladies.

Women who are pregnant should understand that alcohol use or rather abuse can lead to mental retardation and birth defects. Besides this it can cause increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, and also stillbirth.

Drinking alcohol when you are pregnant can cause serious defects in the baby called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Babies with FAS have may have:

1)    face deformities: small heads, small upturned noses, small eyes, uncoordinated eyes, webbing between eyes and nose, drooping eyelids, etc.
2)    organ and skeletal deformities: kidney and heart abnormalities, genital malformations, etc.
3)    neurological handicaps: retardation, poor memory, poor language skills, poor coordination, attention deficit, etc.
4)    developmental problems: small stature, failure to ‘catch up’, delayed milestones, etc.
5)    behavioral problems: anxiety, social withdrawal, etc.

Doctors usually advice a woman who even planning to be pregnant to avoid all alcohol and alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol abuse in pregnancy may affect some babies more and other babies less, and we don’t know yet why this happens. Even if a baby appears healthy, he will have problems getting along with people, paying attention, and other behavioral issues if his mother drank alcohol when she was pregnant with him.

Remember: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a serious birth defect, but it is 100% preventable.

Do you drink but think that you are not addicted? Take this test:

Self-screening for alcohol

Read More

1. About the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

2. South African children ravaged by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

3. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause future cognitive problems for your baby