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Alcohol Effects on Pregnancy

Alcoholic drinks have become a normal habit at numerous events and celebrations

worldwide, and they have become a part of the modern lifestyle. Alcohol consumption went up

during the pandemic as more people resorted to drinking down their stress, depressions, sorrows

of loved ones dying and their fears of Covid-19. Even though everyone who lived through the

pandemic would attest it was a time beguiled with uncertainty and new norms which was hard to

cope with, nonetheless, research shows that pregnant women who drink alcohol have a high

chance of having a miscarriage, having their baby born prematurely, and having a low-birth-

weight baby. It can also have an impact on the baby after birth. If a mother drinks alcohol while

pregnant, her baby may develop foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which is a hazardous

condition.

Current findings in 2022 pertaining the consumption of alcohol in women who are

pregnant, found that one in seven are drinking occasionally and if that isn’t bad it also

highlighted that one in twenty of the pregnant women had done binge alcohol consumption

within a month (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). These women are putting their

unborn babies at risk by drinking alcohol. This is because alcohol can harm the developing

baby's brain. Kenneth Jones and David Smith came up with the now popular term of FASD after

discovering abnormalities affecting fetal exposure to alcohol in utero, a pattern of malformations

they named Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Gadye). The umbilical cord transmits alcohol from the
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maternal circulation to the fetus (March of dimes). Neural crest cells, which typically grow into

face features and numerous brain cells, die prematurely as a result of alcohol consumption

(Gadye). Neural stem cells play an important role in the development of the brain in embryos.

Alcohol consumption slows the creation of these cell lines. Even if neural stem cells are still able

to multiply, alcohol prevents them from migrating to the right side of the brain, further

interfering with brain development (Gadye).

While it may be possible for a woman to produce a healthy baby while consuming

alcohol, alcohol usage by a woman during her pregnancy nearly invariably has a detrimental

influence on the growing baby. It is important now to highlight how alcohol affects the baby

when it is born or when it’s still in the womb. It has been highlighted above how alcohol gets to

the baby through the blood stream and how it disrupts growth of cells of the fetus. Now the next

part is looking at how it affects the baby after birth and the process of delivery. Miscarriage,

baby born dead, preterm birth, and a range of long-term difficulties if the baby survives such as

psychological, academic, and cognitive disabilities, are all possible side effects of drinking while

pregnant (CDC). According to research, drinking prior to conception raises the chance of

miscarriage. They discovered that for every additional drink per week drank by pregnant women

who had five or less drinks per week, the chance of miscarriage increased by six percent

(Sundermann et al). Infants and school-aged toddlers may struggle with reading or learning, as

well as challenges with concentration and focus, frustration tolerance, and social boundaries (The

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry). Teenagers who have been subjected to

alcohol while in the foetus may struggle to experience sadness, anxiety or have learning

disabilities and engage in lewd behavior (Slaughter).

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Occasionally pregnant women can drink excessively but have normal infants. Whilst

other expectants may just drink a small amount of alcohol and have offspring with

serious lifelong issues. Each pregnancy is unique. One infant may be more affected by alcohol

than another. Avoiding consumption of alcohol for the expectant mothers is the only way a

mother can safely protect and reduce the risk of their baby from developing alcohol-related

problems in the future.

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Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Alcohol Use During Pregnancy.” Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Dec. 2021, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/alcohol-

use.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Data and Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, 6 Jan. 2022, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/data.html.

Gadye, Levi. “What Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and How Does It Affect the Brain?”

BrainFacts.Org, 23 Aug. 2018, www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/childhood-

disorders/2018/what-is-fetal-alcohol-syndrome,-and-how-does-it-affect-the-brain-

082318.

March of Dimes. “Alcohol during Pregnancy.” March of Dimes, 23 Apr. 2016,

www.marchofdimes.org/pregnancy/alcohol-during-pregnancy.aspx.

Slaughter, Erica. “Dangers and Effects of Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant.” American

Addiction Centers, 20 May 2022,

americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment/dangers-pregnancy.

Sundermann AC, Zhao S, Young CL, et al. Alcohol Use in Pregnancy and Miscarriage: A

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019;43(8):1606-1616.

doi: 10.1111/acer.14124

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. “Drinking Alcohol in Pregnancy

(Fetal Alcohol Effects).” AACAP.Org, 3 May 2020,

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/

Drinking-Alcohol-in-Pregnancy-Fetal-Alcohol-Effects-093.aspx