100% PREVENTABLE!!!
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, is a severe birth defect caused by heavy alcohol use during pregnancy or breastfeeding. If a pregnant woman drinks alcohol during her pregnancy, the alcohol crosses the placental barrier and affects the highly vulnerable infant brain. Alcohol has an effect on the levels of glutamate by suppressing its release and enhancing GABA activity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States .2 to 1.5 for every live births are FAS cases. Children that are born with FAS have distinctive facial features (e.g. small head, narrow eye openings, short upturned nose), low birth weight, slow growth, central nervous system abnormalities, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral and cognitive problems.
It is important for pregnant women to be aware of the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Unfortunately, some women may not be aware of the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Information about FAS can be found at the N.O.F.A.S website.
In the case of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, should the mother be charged with abuse to the child? If the mother has complete control of what she consumes during her pregnancy, is it possible that she purposely caused the damage to her unborn child and has condemned the child with both physical and mental disabilities for life?
If a woman decides to continue with a pregnancy, it is a widely known fact that women should not smoke or drink alcohol. In this case those mothers should definitely face some kind of punishment, having a baby is a huge responsibility that by continuing in a pregnancy a woman agrees to. You are right when you say that it is one hundred percent preventable if you can't give up alcohol then don't have kids.
ReplyDeleteMost woment know that drinking alcohol while pregnant can lead to a child having birth deffects. Although most women know this, many continue drinking throughout pregnancy. Drinking is preventable because a woman has the choice to either drink or not drink. For this reason, I believe that women who have children with FAS should be punished due to the fact that they caused the syndrome.
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