“Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a serious health problem that tragically affects its victims and their families, but that is completely preventable” (2). Causing a child to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome is really nothing short of child abuse and it lasts for life. Babies born with FAS tend to weigh less and be shorter than normal.
They usually suffer from: smaller heads, deformed facial features, abnormal joints and limbs, poor coordination, problems with learning, short memories 1, Victims of fetal alcohol syndrome often experience mental health problems, disrupted school experience, inappropriate sexual behavior, trouble with the law, alcohol and drug problems, difficulty caring for themselves and their children, and homelessness.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently conducted a “large study including 400,000 American women, all of whom had consumed alcohol during pregnancy” (5). Not a single case of fetal alcohol syndrome occurred and no adverse effects on children were found when consumption was fewer than 8.5 drinks per week.
A recent review of research studies found that fetal alcohol syndrome only occurs among alcoholics. The evidence is clear that there is no apparent risk to a child when the pregnant woman consumes no more than one drink per day. A study of moderate drinking during pregnancy found no negative effects. The researchers suggested that one drink per day provides a significant margin of safety, although they did not encourage drinking during pregnancy. Consuming no more than one drink per day did not appear to have any effect on fetal growth. A follow-up of children at 18 months of age found that those from women who drank during pregnancy, even two drinks per day, scored higher in several areas of development.
Consuming two to 14 drinks per week does not increase the risk of giving birth to a child with either malformations or fetal alcohol syndrome.....
