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Dear J.G.,
I answered this same query over five years
ago and my answer is the same: The bottom line
is that if ALL women gave up drinking any alcohol
during pregnancy, there would NEVER be another
baby born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or
Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE). Although heavy drinking
is more likely to result in the full syndrome,
scientific evidence suggests that different aspects
of development will be found to be sensitive at
different levels of exposure and at different
times during the pregnancy. FAS and FAE are 100%
preventable.......When a women stays away from
alcohol (beer, "a little wine" or wine
coolers or hard liquor) during pregnancy, her
baby WILL NOT have FAS or FAE.
A
common pattern of birth defects observed in children
born of alcoholic mothers was first described
and labeled as "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome"
by Jones in 1973. Studies since have established
alcohol as a physical and behavioral agent that
produces defects in offspring in utero. The minimal
criteria for diagnosing FAS are (1) prenatal and
postnatal growth retardation; (2) central nervous
system involvement such as neurological abnormalities,
developmental delays, behavioral dysfunction,
attention deficit disorders (ADD), intellectual
impairment, and skull or brain malformations;
and a characteristic face with short eye openings,
a thin upper lip and an elongated, flattened mid-face
and groove in the upper, middle lip. For those
individuals who have only some of the characteristics
of FAS, the term "Fetal Alcohol Effects"
(FAE) is used.
FACT:
FAS is still the #1 known cause of mental retardation
in the United States, and one of the three leading
causes of birth defects. FACT: Each year the full
FAS syndrome occurs at a rate of 9.7 cases per
10,000 live births nearly 4,000 in al...not including
those many more with FAE all born with these defects
because their mother drank alcohol when pregnant.
FACT: The effects of FAS never go away. People
with FAS have the disabilities they are born with,
including mental retardation, throughout their
lives.
FAS
AND FAE CAN BE PREVENTED I have not changed my
opinion that:
1) Women planning a pregnancy should stop drinking
alcohol before trying to conceive and should not
drink throughout pregnancy and breast feeding.
2) Women who drink and have an unplanned pregnancy
should quit drinking as soon as they suspect that
they are pregnant.
3) Heavy drinkers should avoid pregnancy until
they think they can stay away from alcohol for
nine months from conception to birth, and longer
if they plan to breast feed their babies.
In
summary, I disagree with both the nurse and your
daughter's doctor. As far as I am concerned there
is no known safe amount of alcohol or safe time
for a pregnant women to drink, When a women drinks,
her baby drinks, because the alcohol passes directly
through the placenta to the baby. Frankly, if
a women can't stay away from alcohol once she
knows she is pregnant, she may well have a drinking
problem which must be addressed. For more information
you can call the March of Dimes: 1-800-345-5188.
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