Also called: Also called: FAS
If you are pregnant and drink alcohol, so does your baby. This can hurt your baby's growth and cause life-long physical and behavioral problems. One of the most severe effects of drinking during pregnancy is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS is a group of problems that can include
- Mental retardation
- Birth defects
- Abnormal facial features
- Growth problems
- Problems with the central nervous system
- Trouble remembering and/or learning
- Vision or hearing problems
- Behavior problems
FAS lasts for a lifetime. There is no cure. Special school services can help with learning problems. Routines and consistency at home may help with behavior problems. Women can prevent FAS and other problems related to alcohol use by not drinking when they are pregnant or might get pregnant.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Drinking and Your Pregnancy(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) - http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/DrinkingPregnancy_HTML/pregnancy.htm
Also available in Spanish http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/spanish.htm
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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/fas.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/fas_esp.html
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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/Spanish/fas/
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD); Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)(American Pregnancy Association) - http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/fetalalcohol.html
- Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Getting a Diagnosis(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNKDiagnosis_5_colorJA_new.pdf
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Drinking Alcohol(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_530.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9246_9633.asp
- Preventing FASD: Healthy Women, Healthy Babies(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNK_Preventing_FASD.pdf
- Eight Magic Keys: Developing Successful Interventions for Students with FAS(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/EightMagicKeys.pdf
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A Parent's Guide to Caring for a Child with FAS(Wake Forest University, School of Medicine, Organization of Teratology Information Services) - Large PDF file - http://otispregnancy.org/pdf/FAS_booklet.pdf
- Independent Living for People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNKIndLiving_6_colorJA_new.pdf
- Strategies for Daily Living(National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) - http://www.nofas.org/living/strategy.aspx
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders among Native Americans(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/Prevline/pdfs/SMA06-4245.pdf
- How Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Co-Occur with Mental Illness(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNK_CoOccurMentalIllnes.pdf
- Microcephaly: When Your Baby's Head is Abnormally Small(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/microcephaly/AN00236/METHOD=print
- Areas of the Brain That Can Be Damaged in Utero by Maternal Alcohol Consumption(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/GraphicsGallery/FetalAlcoholSyndrome/mattson.htm
- Craniofacial Features Associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/GraphicsGallery/FetalAlcoholSyndrome/FetalAlcohol.htm
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(National Institutes of Health) - Links to PDF - http://www.nih.gov/about/researchresultsforthepublic/FetalAlcohol.pdf
- Article: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: problem behaviors and sensory... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18557002&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Building clinical capacity for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder diagnoses in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18544794&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Pregnancy characteristics of women giving birth to children with fetal... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18532953&tool=MedlinePlus
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=fetal+alcohol+syndrome[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Center for Excellence(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - http://fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/
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March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation - http://www.marchofdimes.com/
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/
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National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/defaultspan.htm
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
- National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - http://www.nofas.org/
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders by the Numbers(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNK_Numbers.pdf
- "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome" Quest(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/kids/kfaspage.htm
- Adopting and Fostering Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNK_Adoption.pdf
- Effects of Alcohol on a Fetus(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/documents/WYNK_Effects_Fetus.pdf
- Alcoholism - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alcoholism.html
- Genetics/Birth Defects - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/geneticsbirthdefects.html
- Pregnancy and Reproduction - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancyandreproduction.html
- Substance Abuse Problems - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/substanceabuseproblems.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/