How Alcohol Can Affect The Baby During Pregnancy
Alcohol is a drug, no matter where you look. Therefore, you have to consume it in moderation or even eliminate it permanently. This is especially important if you are expecting a child, as alcohol can affect the baby during pregnancy.
Therefore, if you are pregnant, read on. In this article we will give you the keys so that you know first-hand how alcohol can harm your baby.
This is how alcohol will affect the baby during pregnancy
Alcohol directly affects the fetus, since the drink that the mother ingests enters the baby’s body through the bloodstream. The mother’s body can eliminate the alcohol she ingests, but in the case of the baby this is not the case. And it is that the organs of the future child are being formed and are not prepared to carry out these tasks.
The presence of alcohol in the baby’s body during pregnancy can have fatal consequences. From certain deficiencies to malformations. And, of course, what is known as fetal alcohol syndrome.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Babies who have experienced fetal alcohol syndrome during pregnancy have a number of common characteristics. These babies, for the most part, suffer from facial malformations that give them characteristic and common features:
- Wide and flattened face.
- Small head circumference.
- Wide and low bridge of the nose.
- Small eyes with epicantal folds.
- Narrow palpebral fissures on the eyelids.
- Malformations in the ears.
If deficits occur within the development of fetuses affected by fetal alcohol syndrome, two phases will have to be observed. On the one hand the prenatal stage, and, on the other, the postnatal stage.
Brain and organic problems
It is essential to observe the baby’s brain evolution. The fact of being born with a very small head circumference influences the development of the functional capacities of the child. And, in many cases, it could lead to mental deficiencies.
Regarding the damage to the nervous system, we must say that it damages, above all, the central nervous system. For this reason, it is common for these babies to end up suffering a delay in their development. This delay can be reflected in small abnormalities or severe mental retardation.
Behavioral problems
It is also common for this to degenerate into behavioral problems and other disorders. Among them would be nerves, irritability, tremor, hyperactivity and alterations in motor functions.
Malformations
In addition, as we say, it can also lead to malformations. These may be present in the heart, in the eyes or even in the kidneys. They could also result in limb deformities.
Alcohol will affect the baby during pregnancy, better avoid it
If you wonder how alcohol can affect your baby during pregnancy and whether or not you can drink safely, take note. And it is that the different studies that have been carried out do not yield clear data. Although it is true that a very punctual drink may not have a clear impact on the fetus, it is best not to drink. These problems can appear in the baby even if small amounts of alcohol are regularly drunk. Therefore, the only possible solution is to avoid it.
If you haven’t gotten pregnant yet, but are trying, your partner also needs to moderate their alcohol intake. Since, according to recent studies, if the father consumes alcohol in a large and regular way, it could have consequences.
If the baby consumes alcohol before the baby is conceived, the risks of the future child developing leukemia increase. This is so because alcohol causes mutations in chromosomes. All this causes an alteration to occur in a protein that is associated with the onset of leukemia. In fact, it also occurs with tobacco. For this reason, it is important that couples who want to have a child refrain from drinking alcohol and smoking.
So now you know how alcohol can affect your baby during pregnancy. Even how it can affect if it is a regular intake and you are trying to get pregnant. Living as healthy as possible will help you not only conceive, but also have a healthy baby.
