Drinking Alcohol During Pregnancy - The Dangers
Alcohol consumption whilst pregnant causes a major risk to your babies’ health. The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) affects 1/100 babies’, causing physical and mental disability, restricted growth and sometimes, heart failure.
FASD is the general term for a range of mental, physical and behavioral problems related to drinking alcohol throughout pregnancy, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. One drink won’t cause FASD; however, the exact amount of alcohol that causes FASD is unknown. To reduce confusion over what could be safe, most experts tell pregnant women not to drink at all. There are a lot of ways of testing for alcohol if you wish to test someone who you belive is drinking while pregnant.
Individuals with FASD usually appear to be normal but their behaviour is often different to children without any disorders; they sometimes are not as fast to fathom things, stuff they learn is not stored for long (they aren’t processed into the long term memory), they have sudden mood swings and find social situations difficult.
There are a few visible signs of FASD including smaller and wide-set eyes, a thin upper lip and no groove between the nose and lip. But many don’t, which is an explanation as to why their behaviour is generally misinterpreted well into adulthood.
Drinking when pregnant is not recommended and is even seen by some people as child abuse. If you are having trouble abstaining from alcohol during your pregnancy, you need to go and see a specialist to help you to stop drinking.
Most individuals with the disorder manage to adapt to social situations and can function well in some jobs, including some trades.
Testing for Acohol can easily be done at home by using a saliva alcohol test, these tests are usually fairly cheap and very accurate.