PREGNANCY & ALCOHOL.

Alcohol is formed when yeast ferments (breaks down without oxygen) the sugars in different food. For example, wine is made from the sugar in grapes, beer from the sugar in malted barley, cider from the sugar in apples, vodka from the sugar in potatoes, beets or other plants.

Alcohol is classified as a ‘sedative hypnotic’ drug. It acts to depress the central nervous system at high doses. When taken at lower doses, alcohol can act as a stimulant, inducing feelings of euphoria and talkativeness, but drinking too much alcohol at one session can lead to drowsiness, respiratory depression, coma or even death.

In an adult, alcohol affects the brain (it interferes the brains communication pathways), Heart (high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, stroke), Liver (fibrosis, cirrhosis etc), Cancer (drinking can increase your risk of having throat cancer, mouth, liver, breast), weaken the immune system of the body.

A woman who drinks alcohol while she is pregnant may harm her developing baby. Alcohol can pass through blood. This simply means it goes from the mother's blood into the baby's blood. Alcohol can damage and affect the growth of the baby's cells.

FASD (Fatal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder):

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) describes the range of alcohol effects on a child. These problems can range from mild to severe. Alcohol can cause a child to have physical, mental or both problems that may last all of his or her life.

Heavy drinking (having eight or more alcoholic drinks a week) greatly increases the risk that your baby will suffer from FASD. Even babies whose mothers drink less can develop a FASD or later have a number of mental, physical, or behavioral problems

THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL CAN INCLUDE:

• Distinctive facial features. A child may have a small head, flat face, and narrow eye openings, for instance. This gets more obvious as the baby ages (2 to 3 years).
• Growth problems. Children who were exposed to alcohol before they were born may be smaller than other children of the same age.
• Learning and behavior problems.
• Baby’s exposed to alcohol usually have birth defects.
• Problems feeding as a newborn.

Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy can also lead to miscarriages, stillbirth, or a baby being born early.

HOW MUCH ALCOHOL IS SAFE?

The risk gets higher with heavy alcohol use, any amount of alcohol may affect your developing baby. Heavy drinking (5 or more drinks on at least one occasion) during pregnancy can severely affect a developing baby.

The best way to avoid FASD is by not drinking at all while you are pregnant.

The effects that alcohol has on a developing baby depend on:

• How much, how often, and at what stage of pregnancy the mother drinks alcohol. The more the intake, the more the effect on the fetus.
• Whether the mother used other drugs, smoked, or had poor health for any reason while she was pregnant. In these cases, the child is more likely to have problems.
• Traits passed down through families. Some babies are more likely to be harmed by alcohol than others. It's not clear why, but there may be a genetic link.

It’s advisable a pregnant woman stays away completely from alcohol. It’s still advised after child birth because alcohol intake after birth could still affect the baby if precautions are not taken. The amount of alcohol that makes it into the bloodstream of a breastfeeding woman also makes it into her breast milk. Baby’s are tiny and have an immature liver. They can’t process alcohol as you can. Over working their liver is not advisable and could damage it permanently.