Ask the Pros
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week

Ask A Childbirth Educator
Questions and Answer

Q. How does alcohol physically and mentally effect the fetus inside the womb?

A. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can affect the baby physically. The baby has a higher risk of developing a congenital heart defect, club foot, kidney defects, neural tube defects, as well as fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome includes poor growth, mental retardation and physical disabilities. How badly the baby is affected depends on how much the mother drinks, though some individuals seem to be more susceptible than others. There is no safe level of alcohol in pregnancy and it is recommended that pregnant women completely avoid alcohol. If the baby's father is a heavy drinker, the baby may also be at greater risk for low birthweight.

One thing interesting to note is that alcohol can be found in amniotic fluid---after it has left the mother's bloodstream. The baby swallows its amniotic fluid, so it can actually be exposed for longer than you would think to alcohol. The baby's liver is also not fully mature, so it takes much longer to process the alcohol and excrete it.

While there isn't much on how the fetus' awareness is effected, newborn infants whose nursing mothers drink alcohol may show signs of light sedation. We can only imagine what drinking does to a baby's awareness in utero.

Karen Klimsak-Ungar, CCE has been a certified childbirth educator for Birth Works® since 1996. She is currently Managing Editor for the Birth Works newsletter, sits on the Birth Works Board of Directors, and serves on their National Trainee Review Committee. A happily married mother of two, she also continues to teach Birth Works classes as well as private classes.

Karen will answer your questions on fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and babies. Her advice does not take the place of your practitioner. Personal answers will not always be possible.