Hey, Live On Purpose family. We get a lot of our topics from you, the viewers.
And one of our viewers asked "How much alcohol causes fetal alcohol syndrome?' I
may be able to help with that today.
Honestly, not my favorite topic. I think it's really sad that little kids, babies
get affected so seriously by alcohol use and abuse. Now, we'll talk about both of
those today. But first, I want to give you a definition from the Mayo Clinic of
fetal alcohol syndrome. What is this thing? I learned about it back in
graduate school. We don't talk about it all that much. You've probably heard the
term. Here's the definition from the Mayo Clinic. "Fetal alcohol syndrome is a
condition in a child that results from alcohol exposure during the mother's
pregnancy." Notice that word exposure. I'll come back to that. Fetal alcohol syndrome
causes brain damage and growth problems. The problems caused by fetal alcohol
syndrome vary from child to child but defects caused by fetal alcohol syndrome
are not reversible. Again, that's from the Mayo Clinic. That's pretty heavy stuff. I
want to focus on that word that I mentioned earlier. Exposure is what can
cause fetal alcohol syndrome. Now, I opened with the question and this
came from one of our viewers. How much alcohol causes fetal alcohol syndrome?
The basic answer to that is any alcohol can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. But
there's a lot of myths out there, too. I looked this up on a website for the
National Organization on fetal alcohol syndrome. And they had listed several
common myths or things that people say about this that are really not true.
Let's take a look at some of those myths. You may have heard that a glass of wine
actually reduces stress and can be very helpful during a pregnancy. Or that
doctors sometimes will say a glass or two of wine is really not going to be
harmful and is probably okay during pregnancy. I'm combining those 2
because there's an important element here. Now, yes it is true and I have seen
some of the studies that talked about this that a glass of wine can have some
beneficial health effects. Now, we're talking about the mother. We are not
talking about the infant or the fetus in this case. Fetal alcohol syndrome is
caused when babies are developing within the womb. The fetus is not protected from
the alcohol that comes into the mother. And that fetus is exposed to exactly the
same levels of alcohol that the mother is. But the fetus is only this big or
this big. And that exposure can have very very detrimental effects. So, even if it's
true that a glass of wine is not harmful and perhaps even beneficial to the
mother, it's extremely dangerous for the fetus. We're talking about 2 very
different things. The mother and the fetus. These are 2 different people. And
so keeping that in mind will help to debunk that myth. If doctors say that
it's okay to have an occasional glass of wine during pregnancy, they're probably
uninformed about the effects of alcohol on that developing fetus. The American
College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists advised that all pregnant
women completely abstain from alcohol for this purpose. Here's another myth: My
friends or family members drank a little bit during pregnancy and their kids are
fine. Really? Have you taken a close look at their kids? Well, without going there,
there are very different reactions by different people to different substances.
There is no evidence that any level of alcohol
is safe for a developing fetus. Now, that doesn't mean that if you have one
drink or if you drink occasionally or you have some light drinking that your
child is going to develop fetal alcohol syndrome. It increases the risk
dramatically. And there may be different results for different people. But again,
there is no level of alcohol that has been shown to be safe for a developing
fetus. You know, I have to jump in right here. Because what if you just barely
found out you're pregnant and you've been drinking a little? Stop now. The
earlier you stop your use of alcohol, the better chances your baby has of not
having detrimental effects. You can't go back and undo what you've already done.
So, if you're at this point and you're learning this information now... Apply the
information now. I love the way Maya Angelou put this. She said, "Do the best
you can based on what you know." And when you know better, do better. Let this be
the time that you make that shift. And your baby will have the best benefits
possible. Here's another one that I've actually heard personally. That 'On a
holiday or a special occasion it's okay to have a couple of sips." Alright. The
fetus doesn't know that it's a holiday. And your bodies can react exactly the
same way in terms of metabolizing that alcohol as it would on any other day. Has
nothing to do with holidays or special occasions. Duh! Here's another one that
just drives me crazy: "Well, drinking wine is much better than using heroin or
cocaine during pregnancy." Seriously? Yes. And it's also better to roll your car
than to hit a head-on collision. That doesn't mean you want to go out and roll
your car. Stay away from all harmful substances. Another myth that I've heard.
There are some physical deformities or characteristics that we can sometimes
identify with fetal alcohol syndrome. I remember
the pictures that they showed us in graduate school where there are some
facial kind of deformities that are typical of fetal alcohol syndrome. So, if
my child looks fine, then they must not have any effects. The number one thing
that fetal alcohol syndrome effects is brain development. So, you may or may not
see physical deformities. It doesn't mean that there was no effect. Do you remember
when we were talking earlier about how your friends and family drink a little
during their pregnancy and their kids seemed fine?
Yeah. "Seemed" fine. What about those learning disabilities that can kick in?
What about those subtle cognitive deficits that are created by the effects
of alcohol? I probably don't need to go into all of the myths and probably
you've figured out how I feel about this subject. I have to be clear about this
because their research is very, very clear that there is no safe level of
alcohol for a developing fetus. And remember that fetus is exposed to
exactly the same exposure of alcohol that the mother is. So, let's be really
careful with this. And again, if you've already been drinking a little and
you're pregnant, this video is not about shame and guilt. It's about education.
When you know better, do better. I'm so happy that you're here. That you're a
conscious loving parent. We've got your back at Live On Purpose
TV. And there are coaching programs for positive parenting that we have put
together. But I think you might find to be extremely helpful. Let's team up to be
the very best parents that we can. Go to drPaulJenkins.com/
breakthroughcall. Let's get you on a call with one of our coaches and team up
to be better parents.