Article title: Drinking and Your Pregnancy: NIAAA
Conditions: alcohol abuse, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, pregnancy
Source: NIAAA
When you are pregnant, your baby grows inside you. Everything you eat and drink while you are pregnant affects your baby. If you drink alcohol, it can hurt your baby's growth. Your baby may have physical and behavioral problems that can last for the rest of his or her life. Children born with the most serious problems caused by alcohol have fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Be born small.
• Have problems eating and sleeping.
• Have problems seeing and hearing.
• Have trouble following directions and learning how to do simple things.
• Have trouble paying attention and learning in school.
• Have trouble getting along with others and controlling their behavior.
• Need medical care all their lives.
•
Need special teachers and schools.
Here Are Some Questions You May Have About Alcohol and
Drinking While You Are Pregnant.
No.
Do not drink alcohol when you are pregnant. Why? Because when you
drink alcohol, so does your baby. Think about it. Everything you
drink, your baby also drinks.
No.
Drinking any kind of alcohol when you are pregnant can hurt your
baby. Alcoholic drinks are beer, wine, wine coolers, liquor, or
mixed drinks. A glass of wine, a can of beer, and a mixed drink all
have about the same amount of alcohol.
Every
pregnancy is different. Drinking alcohol may hurt one baby more than
another. You could have one child that is born healthy, and another
child that is born with problems.
No.
These problems will last for a child's whole life. People with
severe problems may not be able to take care of themselves as
adults. They may never be able to work.
If
you drank alcohol before you knew you were pregnant, stop drinking
now. You will feel better and your baby will have a good chance to
be born healthy. If you want to get pregnant, do not drink alcohol.
You may not know you are pregnant right away. Alcohol can hurt a
baby even when you are only 1 or 2 months pregnant.
There
are many ways to help yourself stop drinking. You do not have to
drink when other people drink. If someone gives you a drink, it is
OK say no. Stay away from people or places that make you drink. Do
not keep alcohol at home.
If
you cannot stop drinking, GET HELP. You may have a disease called
alcoholism. There are programs that
can help you stop drinking. They are called alcohol treatment
programs. Your doctor or nurse can find a program to help you. Even if
you have been through a treatment program before, try it again.
There are programs just for women.
You
can get help from a doctor, nurse, social worker, pastor, or clinics
and programs near you.
For
confidential information, you can contact:
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) National Council on Alcoholism National Institute on Alcohol Abuse National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
For help and information
check your local phone
book for
listings in your area
Internet address:
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org
and Drug Dependence
20 Exchange Place Suite 2902
New York, NY
10005-3201
(800) 622-2255
Internet address:
http://www.ncadd.org
and Alcoholism
6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 409
Bethesda, MD
20892-7003
(301) 443-3860
Internet address:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov
216 G Street, NE, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20002
(800)
66-NOFAS
Internet address: http://www.nofas.org
NIH Publication No. 96-4101 1996
Updated: November 2001
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
6000 Executive
Boulevard - Willco Building
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7003
Please send comments or suggestions to the http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/please.htm.
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