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FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder)

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Alcohol Use in Pregnancy
There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink and no safe kind of alcohol. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges pregnant women not to drink alcohol any time during pregnancy.
Women also should not drink alcohol if they are planning to become pregnant or are sexually active. This is because a woman could become pregnant and not know for several weeks or more. In the United States half of all pregnancies are unplanned.
FAS-Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is now called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. FASDs are 100% preventable. If a woman doesn’t drink alcohol while she is pregnant, her child cannot have an FASD.

Why Alcohol is Dangerous
When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, so does her unborn baby.
Alcohol in the mother’s blood passes through the placenta to the baby through the umbilical cord. This is 100% preventable. If a woman doesn’t drink alcohol while she is pregnant, her child cannot have a FASD.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and a range of lifelong disorders, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Children with FASDs might have the following characteristics and behaviors:
• Abnormal facial features, such as a smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip (this ridge is called the philtrum)
• Small head size
• Shorter-than-average height
• Low body weight
• Poor coordination
• Hyperactive behavior
• Difficulty paying attention
• Poor memory
• Difficulty in school (especially with math)
• Learning disabilities
• Speech and language delays
• Intellectual disability or low IQ
• Poor reasoning and judgment skills
• Sleep and sucking problems as a baby
• Vision or hearing problems
• Problems with the heart, kidney, or bones

Folic Acid:

Folic Acid is a type of vitamin that is essential for the mother to take before conceiving, and during their entire pregnancy. Folic Acid is the main reason why women need to take Prenatal Vitamins before and during pregnancy. If the mother does not have enough folic acid in her system the baby may suffer birth defects such as spina bifida, or defects in the brain. Birth defects occur within the first 3-4 weeks of the pregnancy and it is important that the mother has folic acid in her system during that time.

Secondhand Smoke:

Exposure to secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults who do not smoke.
• Between 1988 and 2002, cotinine levels, a biological indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, declined by approximately 70% among children and non-smoking adults. Despite this positive trend, in 2002 nearly half of all children and non-smoking adults still had detectable levels of cotinine.
• Pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke have 20 percent higher odds of giving birth to a low birth weight baby than women who are not exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy.
• Children are at greater risk of being exposed to secondhand smoke than adults.
o During the period 1999–-2002, almost 40 million children, aged 3–19 years, or about 58% of children in this age group, were exposed to secondhand smoke.
o Infants who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to die of SIDS compared to children not exposed.
o Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth.

Smoking:

Smoking during pregnancy
What do we know about tobacco use and pregnancy?

Women who quit smoking before or early in pregnancy significantly reduce the risk for several adverse outcomes.

• Compared with women who do not smoke—
o Women who smoke prior to pregnancy are about twice as likely to experience a delay in conception and have approximately 30% higher odds of being infertile.
o Women who smoke during pregnancy are about twice as likely to experience premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption, and placenta previa during pregnancy.
• Babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy—
o Have about 30% higher odds of being born prematurely.
o Are more likely to be born with low birth weight (less than 2500 grams or 5.5 pounds), increasing their risk for illness or death.
o Weigh an average of 200 grams less than infants born to women who do not smoke.
o Are 1.4 to 3.0 times more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Prevalence of smoking during pregnancy
According to 2004 Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) data from 26 states—
• Approximately 13% of women reported smoking during the last three months of pregnancy.
• Younger, less educated, non-Hispanic, white women and American Indian women are more likely to smoke during pregnancy compared to their older, more educated, counterparts.
• Of women who smoked during the last three months of pregnancy, 52% reported smoking 5 or less cigarettes per day, 27% reported smoking 6 to 10 cigarettes per day, and 21% reported smoking 11 or more cigarettes per day.

Drugs:

Drugs. Illegal and over-the-counter medications
Potential for harm depends on a range of factors including:
• The type of drug
• The size of the dose
• How often it’s taken
• The stage of fetal development (gestational age) at the time of drug exposure
• The individual response of the fetus to the drug
• Other factors, such as maternal diet or illness.

What happens when a pregnant woman consumes cocaine?
Cocaine crosses the placenta and enters your baby's circulation. The elimination of cocaine is slower in a fetus than in an adult. This means that cocaine remains in the baby's body much longer than it does in your body.

How can cocaine affect my unborn baby?
According to the Organization of Teratology Information Services (OTIS), during the early months of pregnancy, cocaine exposure may increase the risk of miscarriage. Later in pregnancy, cocaine use can cause placental abruption. Placental abruption can lead to severe bleeding, preterm birth, and fetal death. OTIS also states that the risk of a birth defect appears to be greater when the mother has used cocaine frequently during pregnancy. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology (ACOG), women who use cocaine during their pregnancy have a 25 % increased chance of premature labor. Babies born to mothers who use cocaine throughout their pregnancy may also have a smaller head and have their growth hindered. Babies who are exposed to cocaine later in pregnancy may be born dependent and suffer from withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, and feeding difficulties. Some experts believe that learning difficulties may result as the child gets older. Defects of the kidneys and brain are also possible.

What happens when a pregnant woman smokes marijuana?
Marijuana crosses the placenta to your baby. Marijuana, like cigarette smoke, contains toxins that keep your baby from getting the proper supply of oxygen that he or she needs to grow.

What happens when a pregnant woman uses heroin? Heroin is a very addictive drug that crosses the placenta to the baby. Because this drug is so addictive, the unborn baby can become dependent on the drug.

How can heroin affect my unborn baby?
Using heroin during pregnancy increases the chance of premature birth, low birth weight, breathing difficulties, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), bleeding within the brain (intracranial hemorrhage), and infant death. Babies can also be born addicted to heroin and can suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms include irritability, convulsions, diarrhea, fever, sleep abnormalities, and joint stiffness. Mothers who inject narcotics are more susceptible to HIV, which can be passed to their unborn children.