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| Ask just about any mother-to-be
about her hopes for the child she is carrying and you'll probably get the
same answer: "I just want my baby to be healthy."
We've come a long way in recent yeas in figuring out how to increase the chances that a baby will be born in good health. Women increasingly take advantage of more and better prenatal care. They are more conscious about nutrition and exercise. They are more knowledgeable about the need to be careful about taking medication during pregnancy. They are playing a bigger role in planning the birthing process itself. Unfortunately, many pregnant women are still careless (or just don't know) about one area of their life that can make a HUGE difference to their baby. Despite evidence that alcohol is the third leading cause of birth defects, an alarming number of women still drink during pregnancy. FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME is a pattern of facial and body deformities, mental retardation, developmental problems that can affect children whose mothers drink alcohol while they were pregnant. FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS are a "milder" version of the same condition, in which the baby has some but not all of these symptoms. Developmental problems include difficulties with moving, walking, talking, and learning things much more slowly and much later than normal children. Retardation means the child will never "catch up" with normal people. Physical deformities mean the child will carry visible signs of his or her condition throughout life. The tragedy is FAS and FAE is double: Not only are these defects and problems permanent, but they are 100% preventable. All you have to do is not drink when you're pregnant and you can be absolutely certain of saving your baby from this condition. Women who are alcoholic or who are heavy daily drinkers obviously have a much larger chance of having a babywith these defects. But Fetal Alcohol Effects have been found in babies of mothers who are "moderate" drinkers as well. And "binge drinking" (drinking only occasionally but drinking a lot when you do drink) seems to be as bad or worse than constant lighter drinking. Since it was common until recently for women who drank to continue to do so during pregnancy, and since the majority of such pregnancies did NOT end in tragedy, a common but unfortunate reaction to learning about FAS is to ask, "Just how much risk is there?" or "Aren't my chances pretty good if I just drink a little?" That's like saying that a majority of babies left alone in the bathtub DON'T drown, so what's the harm? Or like pointing out that many children who cross the street unattended are NOT run over by cars, so why be paranoid about it? Any drinking at all opens the door to risk---and who wants to play Russian roulette with their baby's future? |