Medical Health Information

Risks and dangers of alcohol during pregnancy

The risks of alcohol use during pregnancy affect the mother and the baby, with the occurrence of preterm delivery or spontaneous abortions.

The risks of alcohol use during pregnancy endangers the developing fetus because alcohol passes directly from maternal blood to fetal blood. The alcohol level is even higher in the blood of the fetus because of its light weight and because his liver is not yet sufficiently trained for proper disposal.

Alcohol consumption is extremely harmful to fetal organs including full training for the brain.
It can cause growth retardation of the fetus and global mental retardation, malformations of various organs, and high doses of specific facial malformations and mental disorders grouped under the term Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

From what doses alcohol is there risk to the fetus?

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy, even in small amounts, can have serious consequences on the health of the baby.

There is no threshold below which there is no risk to the fetus.
The risks of alcohol use during pregnancy are such that health experts recommend "zero alcohol during pregnancy."

Effects of alcohol on the fetus

Even moderate consumption of alcohol (two drinks per day) may expose the fetus to the so-called fetal alcohol syndrome, a leading cause of mental retardation of non-genetic children.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
The syndrome is characterized by various signs whose significance and severity are related to the severity and duration of alcohol during pregnancy

Growth defect:
Light weight, small size, small skull with pallor, thinness

Morphological abnormalities:
Characterized by a narrowing of the gap of the eyelids (small eyes) that descend obliquely marked gap space between the two eyes, small nose and thin upper lip, chin with atrophy of the lower jaw shorter than the upper jaw, sometimes cataract

Mental retardation:
Nervous system abnormalities (atrophy and incomplete development of certain parts of the brain)

Organ malformations:
These malformations can affect the heart, skeleton, kidneys and urinary tract, genitals, eyes, ears and even the digestive organs.

What happens to these children to adulthood?

These children remain small in adulthood:

- With persistence of morphological abnormalities of the face, some organ malformations are irreversible;
- As serious consequences in the brain: difficulties in concentration, memory, agitation or violence, mental retardation, behavioral problems that lead to school failure and delinquency or professional.

A large proportion of children with fetal alcohol syndrome may become alcohol dependent in adulthood.
The only way to prevent the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome is abstaining from all alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.

An alcoholic woman can have a child if she remains unscathed abstinent throughout pregnancy.

Risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Be wary at all times of pregnancy, alcohol consumption or occasional alcohol consumption may seem moderate.