The Reality of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

Photo courtesy NOFAS

September 9 was Fetal Alcohol Awareness Day in South Dakota. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is life altering condition that I deal with on a daily basis as it affects the lives of many of my students. FASD is a term that includes both Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND). Studies indicate that FASD is one of the leading causes of brain damage to babies during pregnancy. (Teratology 1997 Nov; 56[5]:317-26) Many of the children I work with were exposed to drugs and/or alcohol prenatally. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) receive a lot of media attention. Everyone is talking about the Autism monster. The Fetal Alcohol monster is just as nasty, yet no one talks about it.


• FASD is as prevalent as ASD occurring in 1 out of every 100 live births and up to 40,000 births per year in the United States.

• While experts try to pinpoint the causes of Autism, we know that FASD is 100% preventable. There is no amount of alcohol that is safe to drink during pregnancy nor is there a timeframe where alcohol use is safe.

• If a woman knows she is pregnant, she absolutely should not drink yet 22.1% of pregnant women in South Dakota admit to consuming alcohol. When a woman drinks, the alcohol passes right through the placenta. It is unknown how much alcohol contributes to a child being born with FASD with can result in physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities including mental retardation.

• Children who grow up with visibly detectable FAS features or invisible ARND are at high risk of serious secondary problems, such as dropping out of school or getting expelled; getting into trouble with the law; abuse of alcohol and other drugs; inappropriate or risky sexual behavior; inability to maintain employment; and mental health issues such as clinical depression. (The Challenge of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Overcoming Secondary Disabilities, Ann Streissguth and Jonathan Kanter, 1997, University of Washington Press.)

• An individual with FASD can cost the U.S. taxpayer an average of $1.4 million across his/her lifetime.

• Both Native American and African-American women have higher rates of FAS than white women.

• The Invisible Children and Families of FASD video clips:

o Part 1

o Part 2

o Part 3

o Part 4

o Part 5

o Part 6



To learn more, visit National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome  or University of South Dakota Center for Disabilities. 

Give your baby a healthy start. Don't drink alcohol while you are pregnant. No amount is safe. Doesn't your baby deserve to start life as healthy as possible?