Alcohol-damaged babies – Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

The phenomenon is old, but the term for it is still relatively young: It was not until 1973 that the American scientists David Smith and Ken Jones (Seattle USA) named the permanent damage caused by  alcohol abuse  during  pregnancy  :  Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).  It is estimated that several thousand alcohol-damaged  babies  are born in Germany every year. They all suffer from the fact that their mothers drank excessively, continuously and often morbidly alcohol during pregnancy. The severity of the baby’s disability depends on how much alcohol the mother consumed during pregnancy and how her body processed the pollutant.

Severe disabilities in alcohol-damaged babies

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is considered the most common cause of congenital, delayed mental development in children. It must be emphasized again and again that this damage  is not genetic  and would be completely avoidable.

In the case of an alcohol-dependent pregnant woman, the risk of a physical malformation or mental disorder in the newborn is 32 to 43 percent. Occasional alcohol consumption during pregnancy is also dangerous for the unborn child. There is no  limit value  below which no impairment of the newborn is to be feared!

What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)  or  alcohol embryopathy  is severe brain damage in newborn babies, the cause of which is always alcohol abuse by the mother during pregnancy. Irreversible consequences are mental disabilities and physical development delays in these children. An estimated 4,000 children are born in Germany every year with this type of alcohol embryopathy – experts fear that this is a conservative estimate. 

If the baby’s organ formation is already complete at the time of alcohol abuse, there are usually only minor externally visible symptoms, although the consequences for the central nervous system are often no less serious. In such cases one speaks of  fetal alcohol effects (FAE). 

Physicians at the international level are now using the term  FASD – Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder  – and thus make it clear that all forms of congenital alcohol damage require special attention. It is estimated that around 10,000 children are born in Germany each year with alcohol spectrum disorders of this kind, although the number of unreported cases is probably much higher.

Alcohol during pregnancy: consequences

The fact that alcohol is a cytotoxin has been known for a long time and has been sufficiently scientifically proven. Especially embryos react particularly sensitively to alcohol during the period of organ development and formation.

The embryonic cells cannot develop and multiply sufficiently, so that  organs and tissues develop poorly or incorrectly. All organs and organ systems of the embryo can be affected, even if FAS children often suffer from short stature,  underweight  and small heads in addition to mental developmental delays and behavioral disorders.

FAS – difficult diagnosis

If the mother’s alcohol dependence is known, the diagnosis of FAS is usually easy to make. It becomes more complicated with the children, who show outwardly only few pronounced symptoms.

The changes in the child can be so small that the parents do not notice any difference to the healthy child. The physical damage can be very different from disorders in brain performance and behavioral disorders.

The manifestations are therefore very different and often lead to incorrect diagnoses, also because many doctors do not have enough experience with the different symptoms of the disease.

Common symptoms of FAS

These are common symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome:

• Typical physical signs are underweight, short stature, small head and poor muscle development.
• Typical facial changes can occur, in which the children have small eyes and narrow upper lips, among other things.
• FAS children are often tube-fed as infants.
• The disease also gives them a pronounced hypersensitivity of the skin, which makes every touch painful.
• Motor skills and sensitivity of the mouth are not sufficiently developed. Swallowing and language development suffer as a result, because the musculature of the mouth does not work properly and sounds cannot be formed.
• Cognitive developmental delays and behavioral disorders are also typical symptoms.

Massive everyday problems

Caring for an FAS infant is complex and stressful. They often need  round-the-clock care.  Sleep and recovery phases for parents and caregivers are rare and usually only possible with a great deal of organizational effort.

In many cases, FAS children are not raised by their biological parents – but it is true for all parents that the emotional abnormalities of their protégés are particularly stressful. Children with FAS suffer from mental developmental disorders that massively hinder them in school, in their social maturation and in their lifestyle:

• These children tend to be slow learners and unable to retain what they have learned.
• Their ability to concentrate is severely restricted, they are easily distracted and cannot carry out even simple tasks, or only with great difficulty.
• Many of the affected children are unable to assess the consequences and risks of their actions and actions and unwittingly expose themselves to considerable dangers, such as when playing, driving or interacting with other people.
• Punishments or bad experiences leave no lasting traces on them.
• FAS children and young people are often far more naïve and gullible than their peers; especially during puberty they often run the risk of being exploited.

Permanent damage from FAS

While the outward signs of alcohol embryopathy disappear with age, the mental impairment remains unrestricted. Neither the disease nor its consequences can be eliminated or remedied. 

At best, the physical and mental limitations that FAS children suffer can only  be alleviated with appropriate treatments . These include, for example:

• speech therapy
• physiotherapy
• occupational therapy
• curative education approaches

There is no drug that can reverse the effects of maternal alcohol abuse during pregnancy.

Day of the Alcohol Damaged Child

Against this background, there is an annual FAS day, which takes place every year on September 9th to draw attention to the fate of the FAS children and to eliminate information deficits among the population, the medical profession, social workers and caregivers through educational campaigns. 

The international FAS day, originally launched in Canada, is supported in Germany by the self-help group FASworld Germany and medical experts.