Alcohol and pregnancy

Maternal alcoholism is responsible for serious disorders of the fetus and has a very important impact on the baby.

Alcohol is a very powerful toxic to the cells of the cerebral cortex of the fetus

One or two drinks a day is enough to cause functional deficits and delayed cognitive development (learning disabilities, memory, abstraction or attention

Fetal alcohol syndrome associates:

- Microcephaly (the volume of the baby's head is smaller than normal)

- Facial dysmorphia that is to say, facial deformities,

Naso-facial-lying area

Philtrum-convex 'the philtrum is an area of the upper lip that draws a small depression beneath the partition between the two nostrils.

- Small nose with a pronounced ensellure

- Narrow eye slits

- Épicanthus (vertical fold of skin that extends from the upper eyelid at the edge of the nose)

hypertelorism (widening of the interorbital distance)

- Hypoplasia of the lower jaw

- Microretrognatism

- Hypotrophy that is to say, a smaller birth weight

- Delayed psychomotor development

- Often behavioral

- Finally, various more or less serious malformations (heart, cleft palate, radio-ulnar synostosis see this term, abnormal fingers, eye abnormalities (microphthalmia, cataract, microcornea, myopia, strabismus, ptosis of the eyelids) ear abnormalities ( SNHL) anomalies of the genito-urinary organs).

Mental disorders persist in the adult:

- Mental retardation,

- Persistent character disorders.

The mental retardation is important, true weakness in some cases.

In addition, the length of alcoholism before pregnancy is an aggravating factor and SMOKING (qv).

SO, ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL DURING PREGNANCY.

In addition, folate (folic acid or vitamin B9) very important, becomes inoperative if taken with alcohol.

We can never say enough that a pregnant woman should not drink or smoke. If it still does not take into account this is a child who will bear the serious consequence.

Indeed, even moderate alcohol consumption can have an impact on psychomotor development of the child. 3 glasses of liquor a day have an impact on psychomotor quotient of the child. Psychomotor performance are reduced by 7 points in children 4 to 5 years whose mothers ingested even moderately alcoholic beverages during pregnancy