Effects of Alcohol during PregnancyPosted: 24. June, 2011 Comments Off
Alcohol is the most widely available drug in the world. Ninety per cent of Western adults indulge – even if only occasionally. Alcohol can seriously damage a developing baby. If a woman regularly drinks more than 12 units of alcohol per week (for example, 2 units per day) during pregnancy, her baby will suffer growth retardation and birthweight will be lower than normal. Women have a lower alcohol tolerance than men due to their higher percentage of body fat – around 30 per cent body weight compared to 15 per cent in the male. Pregnancy is also a time when your body fat stores increase by an average of 10 per cent. Fatty tissue absorbs alcohol like a sponge and slowly releases it into the circulation. Alcohol therefore stays in your body longer than in the average male, as it is only slowly transported to the liver for processing. When you drink alcohol it is rapidly absorbed from your stomach and small intestines into your bloodstream. Before your body has time to break it down, it will pass from your circulation into the placenta and straight into your baby’s system. Your baby will also receive a constant alcohol infusion, as the alcohol absorbed by your fatty tissues is slowly released. During early embryonic life, alcohol will enter the rapidly dividing embryonic cells and start to interfere with some of the enzymes responsible for early metabolic reactions. This results in increased levels of acidity within your baby’s circulation (meta¬bolic acidosis) and is highly toxic. In adults, alcohol is broken down in the liver to a poison, acetaldehyde. If this accumulates in adults, it is a potent trigger of nausea and vomiting – as any¬one who has ever suffered a hang-over will recognize. When it accumulates in your developing baby, it can trigger congenital defects or even a miscarriage. Because of the way alcohol is distributed throughout your body fluids, if you drink alcohol during pregnancy your developing baby will develop a higher blood concentration of alcohol than you. Alcohol will also stay in your baby’s tissues longer -including his developing brain – as once it reaches his body, his liver is less efficient at breaking down alcohol than yours. And as the tiny liver bud only develops during the 4th week after con¬ception, your baby is most vulnerable to alcohol damage in the first month after conception – often before you even know you are pregnant. Unless you take positive steps to avoid alcohol during the months before trying to conceive, as well as during pregnancy itself, you may have affected your baby’s future brain potential. Related Posts:
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