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Umbrella term describing the range ofeffects that can occur in an individualwhose mother drank alcohol duringpregnancy.

May include physical, mental, behavioral,and/or learning disabilities with possiblelifelong implications.

Not a diagnosis

Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental

disorder (ARND) Partial FAS (pFAS) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

It is the leading cause of mental retardation in the West.

FASD is preventable.

Each year over 40,000 American children are born with defects because their mother drank alcohol when pregnant.

The range of FASD is more common than disorders such as Autism and Down Syndrome.

Generally accepted incidence rates for FASD are 1 in 100 live births.

There is no known amount of alcohol that is safe for a woman to drink during pregnancy.

FAS is a serious combination of birth defects seen in the offspring of women who have been heavy drinkers (usually at a rate of six or more drinks per day) throughout pregnancy.

Refers to symptoms of children with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure (mothers drank approximately 14 drinks per week) but not all of the physical or behavioral symptoms of FAS.

A teratogen is any substance that produces birth defects by influencing fetal development.

Alcohol crosses the placenta and enters the fetus, causing the level of alcohol in the fetus to approximate the mother’s alcohol level.

There is ever-increasing recognition that alcohol is the most common chemical teratogen presently causing malformations and mental deficiency in the human offspring.

One drink per day throughout pregnancy

adds up to 39 baby bottles full of booze.

Alcohol has the most detrimental effect on both brain development and function.

The infant is not only born with a smaller brain size, but the teratogenic effect of alcohol both reduces the number of brain neurons as well as alters their distribution.

This results in mental deficiency.

Alcohol is a FOOD, a DRUG and a POISON (toxin). It results in: Direct toxic effects on tissues Interference w/ fetal nutrition Interference w/ fetal oxygen supply Interference w/ growth-signaling

chemicals

The alcohol a pregnant woman drinks reaches the fetus within a few minutes.

Alcohol passes through the placenta. This exposure can cause a lifetime of damage.

The central nervous system and the brain grow throughout pregnancy and are affected during any stage of development.

The portion of the central nervous system responsible for: The interpretation of sensory impulses The coordination and control of bodily

functions The exercise of emotion and thought.

First Trimester

Alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain cells.

Heavy drinking during the second trimester, particularly from the 10th-20th week after conception, seems to cause more clinical features of FAS than at other times during pregnancy.

During the 3rd trimester, the hippocampus is greatly affected, leading to problems with encoding visual and auditory information.

The hippocampus plays a fundamental role in memory.

A baby may be born drunk and addicted to alcohol.

Baby will have low birth weight and short length.

Baby will have a small head, flattened nose, thin upper lip, small eyes.

Baby has permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system.

“Failure to thrive”: they lose weight, have poor sucking reflexes, no desire to eat.

Baby may have trouble sleeping; does not develop a regular schedule; irritable, squirmy, difficult to soothe.

Baby may be slow to talk, learning language is a lifelong problem; slow to walk and to be toilet-trained.

The most common characteristics of children born with FAS are as follows:

Growth deficiencyCraniofacial abnormalitiesMusculoskeletal defectsCardiac diseaseNervous system

abnormalitiesNeuro-developmental delayMental deficiency

Friendly and outgoing, sometimes to their disadvantage.

Impulsive; poor judgment. Hyperactive; cannot sit still. Falls behind peers socially and

academically. Easily manipulated by others.

Average IQ is 65. Physically smaller. Learning disabilities:

Difficulty matching words and behaviors Difficulty mastering new skills or remembering

something recently learned (tying shoelaces) Spotty memory Inflexibility of thought Difficulty predicting outcomes Difficulty distinguishing fact from fantasy Difficulty distinguishing friends from

strangers.

Lighter weight babies Jittery and tremulous Difficulties with habituation Disrupted sleep patterns Abnormal reflexes Weaker sucking reflex

Learning and Behavioral Problems Difficulty sustaining attention Difficulty retaining information Difficulty comprehending words Difficulty with word

recall/organizational skills Impulsive behaviors Distractible and Inflexible

Taking in information

Storing information

Recalling information when necessary

Using information appropriately in a specific situation.

Overly sensitive to sensory input Upset by bright lights or loud noises Annoyed by tags in shirts or seams in

socks Bothered by certain textures of food

Have problems sensing where their body is in space.

Do not complete tasks or chores and may appear to be oppositional

Have trouble determining what to do in a given situation

Do not ask questions because they want to fit in

Have trouble with changes in tasks and routine

Have trouble following multiple directions

Say they understand when they do not

Cannot operationalize what they’ve memorized

Misinterpret others’ words, actions, or body movements

Literal in their thinking and interpretation

Repeatedly break the rules Tend not to learn from mistakes or

natural consequences Frequently do not respond to reward

systems Difficulty entertaining themselves Give in to peer pressure Naïve, gullible Difficulty with abstract concepts

Often feel “stupid” or like a failure

Seen as lazy, uncooperative and unmotivated

Have hygiene problems

Aware they’re ‘different’ from others

Often grow up in multiple homes and experience multiple losses.

FAE believed to occur at a rate of approx. 3-5 per 1,000 live births in the U.S.

FAS present in approx. 1-3 per 1,000

Nation spends approximately $4 billion in caring for families affected by FAS

Estimates of lifetime costs: range $1.4 million in 1988 to $2 million in 2008.

Emotional Legal Financial Criminal Social Physical Psychological

Grade appropriate education

Health Professional education

Required warning labels on alcoholic beverages

Public health information campaign

Chemical dependence treatment programs

Community support systems

Improved screening and referral systems