Pregnancy alcohol with consequences

Pregnancy: Alcohol with serious consequences

09/10/2014

Thousands of babies develop serious physical and mental damage every year as a result of the alcohol intake of pregnant women already in the womb. In the first days of pregnancy, however, worries about alcohol consumption are usually still unfounded.

By renouncing alcohol avoid damage to the unborn child
Every year, thousands of children with serious physical and mental injuries are born in Germany because of the alcohol consumption of pregnant women. Especially the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) can be mentioned here. „With a consistent abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy and lactation, these harms of the unborn child could be avoided“, Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Pott, Director of the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), according to a message from the news agency dpa. „Many women underestimate the harmful effects of alcohol on the unborn child. As before, about 14 percent of pregnant women drink alcohol, at least occasionally.“

Even small amounts of alcohol can hurt
The child is supplied with all the necessary nutrients from the mother's diet during pregnancy via the umbilical cord. In this way, alcohol also reaches the child, so that it quickly reaches the same level of alcohol as the mother. The child's organism is vulnerable to alcohol-related injuries because the organs are not yet fully developed. „Even the consumption of small amounts of alcohol in pregnancy can already damage the unborn child's brain and organs and cause growth and mental and social developmental disorders“, so pot. Especially in the early phase of pregnancy, alcohol can lead to severe physical malformations and, later on, disrupted growth, neurological abnormalities and mental developmental disorders. Especially dangerous is a chronic alcohol consumption of the mother.

Bad conscience unfounded in the first few days
However, the bad conscience and the fear of having harmed the child in the first few weeks through alcohol consumption are generally unfounded. So it is said by the BZgA that nature in the first 14 days after fertilization after the „All-or-nothing principle“ proceed. This means that an egg that is severely damaged in the early stages does not spread further and does not nest in the uterus. A pregnancy does not even come about. On the other hand, if the egg is healthy, it will nest within 10 to 14 days of fertilization. The embryo will be supplied with nutrients through the mother's bloodstream from this point on, and so toxins such as alcohol in the child will arrive. Women should therefore, as soon as they have a positive result in the pregnancy test, better abstain from beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages. (Ad)