©Pregnancy bliss 2008
Prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome
Statistics differ from country to country.
In the UK, no national figures are available but in France, 33 (thirty three) babies are born with this very serious condition out of every 10,000 live births. The figure is 17 (seventeen) per 10,000 in Sweden.
In the United States, approximately 40,000 children are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
every year, putting the rate at about 1 per 100 live-
In the USA, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading documented cause of mental retardation.
There is no strict consistency in the susceptibility to the condition and other factors
such as smoking, drug abuse and nutritional deficiencies may play a part. It is,
however, true that with alcohol intake in excess of eight units per day (fifty-
The level of risk of fetal alcohol syndrome from heavy drinking
Only about one in three mothers who drink heavily, as described above, deliver babies with the syndrome. This reinforces the assumption that the condition is due to a number of factors, though heavy alcohol intake is crucial.
Understanding a unit of alcohol
A unit is equivalent to 8 grams (10 ml) of pure alcohol. This will be found in:
Ø One standard glass of wine
Ø Half a pint of beer, lager or cider (280 ml)
Ø One measure of a "short", if you are drinking spirits.
Recognising fetal alcohol syndrome at birth
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is not always recognizable at birth. This is especially the case if the history of excess alcohol use is not known to the health professionals looking after the mother and the facial deformities are not immediately obvious.
In such a case, the warning may come late with the manifestations of neurological
abnormalities. This may be in the form of infant irritability and hyperactivity which
manifests later. As the child grows, intellectual impairment starts to become apparent.
For the child, the ravages of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are life-
