Children with massive prenatal alcohol exposure often suffer alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder and other congenital abnormalities such as skeletal, cardiac, auditory, ocular, and renal. Alcohol easily passes from the mother’s blood to the developing fetus’s blood that can damage the growth and development of the baby’s cells especially the spinal cord and brain cells. The fetus receives traces of alcohol through the placenta and since the fetal metabolism of alcohol is slower the alcohol stays for a longer, which increases the risk of developing fetal alcohol syndrome disorders. The baby is in constant growth and development throughout the pregnancy and drinking alcohol at any stage has effects on the baby. Excessive consumption of alcohol can result in extreme developmental damages on the cells that can result in miscarriage. Fetus who make it to full term are born underweight and have problems with vital organs such as kidneys, heart, and brain. Prenatal alcohol exposure is related to a characteristic pattern of intellectual deficits including planning, attention, and cognitive flexibility. The side effects that range from mild to severe result in mental and physical problems and extreme cases can be fatal and result in death. One of the common effects of maternal alcohol use while pregnant is fetal alcohol syndrome that is characterized by distinctive facial anomalies. The abnormalities include thin upper lip, small eyelid openings, a flat groove between upper lip and nose, as well as a flat midface.
Additionally, such children portray slow growth accompanied by behavioral and cognitive problems. Fetus predisposed to alcohol suffers from social, emotional function while they are infants that are associated with high levels of irritability. The temperamental variable significantly contributes to a weak maternal attachment that consequently causes poor quality of parenting. The behavior is likely to persist in childhood, and such children are more aggressive and less socially competent irrespective of the social environment. In adulthood, the effects of the poor social-emotional function are highlighted in short-lasting relations as well as instances of divorce among the victims. Children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome depict more significant impairment in memory and learning compared to others. Alcohol-exposed children are associated with less efficient information processing compared to children their age who are not exposed to maternal alcoholism.
School-age children have problems with reading and learning, which in some cases persist up to the adolescent stage and become permanent effects. Notably, such children have poor social boundaries, and low tolerance for frustration and such persons are likely to develop anxiety, depression, and inappropriate sexual behaviors. As indicated the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome manifests differently in children and severe cases can trigger psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The abnormal brain development caused by alcohol during pregnancy is irreversible, however, early diagnosis and intervention can lead to improvement. The treatment and management of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder include special education, occupational therapy, support and speech therapy evaluations, and special education mental health evaluation. However, children with mild problems are increasingly hard to diagnose and require further evaluation to rule out the possibility of other disorders. It is advisable that parents or caregivers of children with the disorder attend classes on behavioral challenges that teach on social skills. Counseling is equally an effective therapy especially by engaging a mental health professional. Children that are adversely affected by the condition can have prescription medicine to manage side effects of fetal alcohol syndrome such as sleep problems, aggressive behavior, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.