Did you know that when a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, it reaches the baby as well?
Alcohol passes through the placenta, straight to the unborn baby.
When a woman drinks during pregnancy, it increases the possibility that the newborn baby may pick up a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
FASD is made up of all the birth problems that may be experienced by a mother who drinks alcohol while pregnant.
What You Need To Know About Alcohol
Alcohol is a drug known as a teratogen, which is a chemical that negatively affects the way we grow.
As mentioned above, when a mother drinks alcohol, it reaches her womb as well, causing the unborn baby to take in the substance as well.
Once alcohol is in the body of the baby, unlike adults, it takes much longer to break down the substance. This means that it will stay longer in the foetus’s blood than it would stay in a full grown person.
This factor may cause irreparable damage to the unborn babies growth and development.
Is it safe to drink alcohol while pregnant? No. Any alcoholic drink can be harmful to your baby. There’s also no safe limit that a mother can drink while pregnant.
How Alcohol Affects Your Baby
When a woman is pregnant, the unborn baby will continue to grow inside their mother’s womb.
The early stage of pregnancy signals the development of all the important body organs: the heart, eyes, nervous system, arms and legs.
After 3 weeks, the brain will begin to form and will continue to grow until birth. The latter stages of pregnancy will see your unborn baby quickly grow in size. Drinking lots of alcohol during this time can stunt this development.
Another consequence of excessive drinking during pregnancy is that the baby could suffer Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE), which are irreparable physical, psychological and behavioural faults.
In some cases, woman will drink alcohol without even knowing that they are pregnant. If this happens, it isn’t the end of the world. What is key is to stop drinking immediately and seek the help of a medical professional.
The maths simple, the more you drink, the higher are the chances that your baby could be affected by FASD. However, it’s also been found that even drinking a little alcohol may also cause FASD.
That’s why it’s best to not drink at all. We urge all soon-to-be-mothers to please refrain from drinking any alcohol during their pregnancy.
If you or a loved one needs alcoholic help, we provide access into the best private alcohol rehabilitation centres in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. Call us now and let one of our qualified addiction counsellors assist in finding the right treatment available.