Effects of Alcohol on Fetal

Development

During pregnancy, everything you eat, drink, or take into your body affects you and your
growing baby (fetus). Pregnant women often need to make changes to have a healthy pregnancy,
such as eating better or exercising. But one of the most important things you can do when you
are pregnant is to avoid alcohol and drugs.

British Colombia. (2019). Alcohol Effects on a Fetus. [online] Available at:

https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics.

When you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, the safest option is to not drink alcohol
at all. Drinking alcohol during your pregnancy puts your baby at risk of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD). FASD is the leading known cause of developmental disabilities in children.
Taking drugs during pregnancy or while breastfeeding may also harm your baby. This includes
prohibited drugs but could also include the misuse of prescribed or over the counter drugs.

What effect does alcohol have on a fetus?

A woman who drinks alcohol while she is pregnant may harm her developing baby (fetus).
Alcohol can pass from the mother's blood into the baby's blood. It can damage and affect the
growth of the baby's cells. Brain and spinal cord cells are most likely to have damage.

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

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 by age 2 or 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 behaviour problems.
 Birth Defects
 Problems bonding or feeding as a newborn.
Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy can also lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or a baby being born
early.

Miscarriage
Still Birth
Premature Baby
How much alcohol is safe?

Although the risk is 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.

You can prevent FASD by not drinking at all while you are pregnant. That is what many doctors
suggest.

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
worst effects often are related to heavy alcohol use.
 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.

What is the treatment for a child born with alcohol effects?

Caring for a child born with alcohol effects takes patience. Help for your child may include extra
support in school, social skills training, job training, and counselling. Community services may
be able to help your family handle the costs of and emotions from raising your child.

Finding alcohol effects early, even if they are mild, gives a child the best chance to reach his or
her full potential in life. Finding the problem early may help prevent problems in school and
mental health problems, such as substance use problems, depression, or anxiety.

There is no treatment that can reverse the impact of alcohol on your baby's health. And there's no
treatment that can make the effects less severe.

Counselling Extra Support in School