Drinking during pregnancy harmful

Infants who do not have a complete fetal alcohol syndrome can still develop IQ problems.Women who drink heavily during pregnancy put their babies at a risk of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which can lead to growth retardation, and long-term mental, developmental and behavioural problems. Some infants with FAS also develop distinctive facial features, such as a flat midface, and thin upper lip. But every child born to heavy drinkers does not develop FAS, yet they can still end up with a low IQ stemming from their exposure to alcohol.

There are certain factors, which appear to increase the risk of alcohol-related IQ problems. Researchers from the Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan found that children, whose mothers were 30 or older, or had a severe drinking problem, and were raised in an intellectually non-stimulating home environment, appeared to be at particular risk of alcohol-related problems by the age of 7 years. Many clinicians have believed that babies born to heavy drinkers, who did not show signs of FAS, might develop only mild problems stemming from their alcohol exposure.

To investigate whether these so-called mild effects of alcohol influenced some children more than others, researchers followed 337 inner-city African-American children until they were seven and a half, noting how much their mothers drank during their pregnancies. Most of the damage from alcohol likely comes from concentrated drinking, such as when expecting mothers consume more than 5 alcoholic drinks at a party.
These findings suggest that all babies born to heavy drinkers should be watched closely, even if they show no signs of FAS.