0 alcohol during pregnancy
Zero consumption during the pregnancy
Today, unable to quantify a consumption ofalcohol without a negative effect on a future baby, the medical profession prefers to advocate total abstinence throughout the period of pregnancy.
Indeed, it seems that daily drinking of thealcohol is not without risks for the child. Too many future mothers still do not know it, but any absorbed liquid passes freely and quickly from the mother's blood to that of the fetus through the placenta.
However, with a consumption of about two glasses ofalcohol per day we do not speak of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), but we must not neglect certain consequences on the child such as a lower birth weight, a risk of prematurity, a delay in learning and memorization and attention disorders.
It must be remembered that, regardless of the level of alcoholic beverages consumed during this period, this behavior is never trivial.
When do we talk about fetal alcohol syndrome?
This syndrome affects nearly two births per 1000 per year. Mainly in
regions with high consumption ofalcohol (the North, Brittany). It is observed in women having a regular consumption of three glasses a day during their entire pregnancy. But also in case of exceptional drunkenness but very important.
The sensitivity of the fetus to the aggression of thealcohol varies throughout the pregnancy. It is during the first weeks of gestation that the risks multiply, especially for the heart, the eyes and the training of the members. As for the risks to the central nervous system, they persist for nine months.
A syndrome with very characteristic physical consequences and irreversible sequelae
The child is low weight and small. Its facies is very characteristic when it is affected by this syndrome: the nose is short and rolled up, the root of it flattened, the eyes small and spread, the cranial perimeter lower than normal.
As for the effects on the nervous system they are of the order of mental retardation or hyperactivity.
Of course all these symptoms are not observed in all children with fetal alcohol.
Long-term effects
- The permanence of stunting.
- Neurological disorders: instability, language disorders, difficulties in school learning.
- Social maladjustment.
- In adulthood, 60% of these children develop an addiction toalcohol and very often to drugs.
* Source of information: National Institute for Prevention and Health Education.
