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Tag: Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

  • Woman Who Drank Eight Beers a Day While Pregnant caused Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in Daughter

    The women who consumed 8 beers a day while pregnant and caused foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in her second child, also almost lost her child.

    The mum battled alcoholism for more than 6 years and would get drunk daily. She also hid alcohol around the house from her husband.

    She first started drinking at 15 years old after being introduced to beer at a party.

    Now 53 years old the mum shared her story with The Sun in an article posted on TheMorningBulletin.com.au

    While her first daughter was lucky to not be permanently affected by drinking, it did cause her to be seriously underweight at birth.

    The baby would not feed and doctors suspected foetal alcohol syndrome. She had to be fed through a tube but managed to overcome her issues and develop. The mother’s second child wasn’t as lucky.

    Her second baby was born 2 months premature and weighed less than one kilo. Doctors gave her a 50% chance of surviving.

    The baby’s facial features also showed the effects of her mother’s drinking, with small eyes, a bigger than normal space between the eyes and a flat nose, typical of babies with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

    Read more about this family’s story at https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/baby-born-fas-after-mum-drank-eight-beers-day/3461983/

  • Retailers Join Fight Against Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

    Dangers of Drinking Alcohol while Pregnant
     

    A joint initiative by the Federal Department of Health, DrinkWise Australia and major retail outlets will warn pregnant women of the danger they are placing their unborn child in by drinking alcohol.
     

    Major liquor retailers will hand out brochures with alcohol purchased that will teach on the dangers of drinking during pregnancy. According to experts the safest action is to not drink at all when pregnant because doctors aren’t sure what levels of alcohol are actually damaging to the foetus.
     

    Even nursing mothers should abstain from alcohol because it may be passed to the nursing baby because breast milk contains higher concentrations of water than blood into which alcohol can be absorbed therefore the alcohol in breast milk is more concentrated and the effects of this alcohol can be passed on to the feeding baby.
     

    The effect of this alcohol consumption can be seen in childhood years, right into adulthood with such symptoms as heart defects, developmental problems, low birth weight, adult developmental delays, learning difficulties, behavioural problems and vulnerability to mental illness.
     

    Drinking while pregnant also increases the chance of having a miscarriage or a still birth. It is commendable that retailers are joining in this fight which impacts on the innocent lives of unborn children who may be affected by their mother’s bad decisions.