Newborns with fetal alcohol syndrome

Newborns with fetal alcohol syndrome

A ) Incidence , Prevalence , and Etiology

Fetal Alcohol syndrome is a pre-natal exposure to alcohol which causes injury to the fetus . The amount and frequency of alcohol that the mother drinks , as well as at which the phase of the pregnancy , are all said to affect the severity of the symptoms associated with the syndrome

The incidence and prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome cannot be precisely determined due to the nature of the syndrome itself . Because the syndrome is rarely identified at directly after birth , most studies

look at the incidence within certain target populations and this can cause variations due to the variable nature of the syndrome across populations . Furthermore , there is no doubt that because of the stigmatizing nature of drinking during pregnancy , the syndrome is underreported . According to one study by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control , among the four million children born each year in the US , an estimated 1 ,000--6 ,000 will be born with FAS (CDCP 2005 ) Still other data provided by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that the incidence of FAS ranges from 0 .2 to 1 .5 per 1 ,000 live births in different areas of the United States (CDCP 2006 ) Data published in the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Handbook published by the Center for Disabilities , Department of Pediatrics at the University of South Dakota , School of Medicine (2002 ) places the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome within the range of 0 .5 to 3 .0 cases per 1 ,000 live births . Their information goes further to determine that the prevalence of FAS within the American population is approximately 471 ,170 and the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Effect approximately 2 ,877 ,090 (p . 6 ,7

B ) Theories and research that address the problem

Because the teratogenic effects of alcohol consumption are irreversible most FAS research is in the areas of prevention and education . Finding ways of conveying the message that drinking during pregnancy can have devastating effects on the child is a paramount goal of most FAS research . Support services and assistance for people affected by FAS and their families as well as awareness raising programs are vital parts of the battle against FAS

According to the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect (2002 , a great deal has been done in the last 30 years in FAS research but they conclude that much must still be done . In their Recommendations , the Task Force identified five key areas for continued efforts

Problems that still need to be addressed include 1 ) raising public awareness regarding the dangers of alcohol use during pregnancy and the adverse outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (i .e , FAS and other alcohol-related effects 2 ) educating and training health and social service professionals concerning how to identify and intervene with women at risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancies 3 ) developing effective intervention programs for children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure 4 ) promoting and supporting basic research to identify the etiology...