After finding out about their pregnancy, the majority of women limit their alcohol consumption to a few portions a week or completely give up alcohol. Certainly, the risk of abnormal development of the fetus depends on the number of alcoholic beverages and the frequency of their use. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how alcohol consumption during pregnancy affects the fetus and its development.
Introduction
Alcohol gets to the fetus through the placenta, coming with blood to the baby, it can disrupt the normal process of cell formation and division and reduce their total number. “During the first trimester, the most critical stage of development, all of the major organ-systems begin to form. Because of the extensive, widespread activity, it is also the period when the developing organism is most vulnerable to the effects of drugs, radiation, and microbes.” (Tortora & Derrickson, 2018, p. 1108). The harmful effect of alcohol on the brain is revealed by a decrease in its size in a newborn; the brain functions of these children are impaired from infancy. Alcohol consumption from the beginning of pregnancy can cause developmental disorders in the embryo, such as heart disease.
Harmful Effects of Alcohol
However, not only the first trimester requires the exclusion of alcohol from the diet of a pregnant woman. The influence of alcohol on the fetus occurs throughout pregnancy, both the brain and the central nervous system, as well as all other organs and systems of the child, suffer from alcoholic beverages. Alcohol slows down the growth of the fetus during the entire period of pregnancy. The most significant harm of alcohol to the fetus lies in violations of the central nervous system, the severity of which depends on the number of doses of alcohol and the duration of its use. The longer a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, the more obvious and severe brain damage will be in the fetus. As a result of CNS dysfunction, serious developmental disorders may appear.
It goes without saying that the influence of alcohol on the fetus is great. According to Popova, Lange, Probst, Gmel, & Rehm, (2017), “… globally, about 10% of women in the general population consume alcohol during pregnancy, and one of every 67 of these women delivered a child with FAS” (p. 295).
In recent years, a special term has appeared in medical practice that defines an infant affected by alcohol in the womb – fetal alcohol syndrome. “One of the most disabling potential outcomes of drinking during pregnancy is the risk of developing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), the most severe and visibly identifiable form of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)” (Popova et al., 2017, p. 290). Children with these features lag behind in weight and height, may have problems with vision and hearing, stuttering and tics. There are also problems with memory and attention, difficulties in learning educational material, and increased irritability.
Conclusion
Thus, if a woman does not want to interfere with the child’s development process and put a child’s health at risk, it is necessary to exclude the influence of alcohol on the fetus by eliminating the use of alcoholic beverages. A safe portion of alcohol that does not affect the development of the fetus has not been established yet; therefore, women who are trying to get pregnant or are already pregnant should avoid drinking any amount of alcohol. It has long been known that regular consumption of alcoholic beverages, even in adults, does not lead to good, let alone in an unborn, completely defenseless baby who is just growing in the womb.
References
Popova, S., Lange, S., Probst, C., Gmail, G., & Rehm, J. (2017). Estimation of national, regional, and global prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 5(3), 290-299.
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. H. (2018). Principles of anatomy and physiology. Danvers, USA: John Wiley & Sons.