FASD

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is a term that describes a wide range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol while pregnant. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with lifelong implications. The Disorders are permanent conditions however, specific conditions may be treatable or manageable.

The term FASD is not intended for use as a clinical diagnosis and refers to conditions such as:

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a birth defect syndrome caused by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) was a term, introduced in 1978, that was used to describe abnormalities seen in individuals that were compatible with those caused by prenatal alcohol exposure.

Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) is a diagnostic classification, coined by the Institute of Medicine in 1996, for patients who present with central nervous system damage from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Each year, as many as 40,000 babies are born with an FASD. The cost to the nation for FAS alone is about $6 billion a year.

Facts on FASD

100 % preventable

Can occur anytime a pregnant woman drinks any type of alcohol

FASD is not caused by Alcohol use by the biological father.

Babies diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) have the following physiological characteristics:

Small birth weight

Small head circumference

Small eye openings

Smooth, wide groove in upper lip

Thin upper lip

Babies who have some, but not all of these characteristic may be diagnosed with partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (pFAS).

Note: Facial characteristics may not be as apparent immediately after birth, during adolescence or adulthood as they are between the ages of two and ten. Facial characteristics may not be present at all if the mother did not drink alcohol during the brief period that the mid-face was forming - around the 20th day of pregnancy.