FAS OR FASD?

I just read a blog which suggested that because fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is caused by consistently using alcohol in excess of the guidelines, and because it has been shown that small amounts of alcohol seem NOT to cause FAS, that we should not be telling women that they should abstain completely from alcohol during pregnancy.

I get so frustrated when I see things like that – who knows how many people read it and believe it. FAS is related to consuming alcohol on the 19th or 20th day of pregnancy. That is the time that the particular facial features are being formed and that is what gives us the diagnosis of FAS. What was never mentioned by this blogger was that prenatal alcohol exposure is a spectrum of disorders from ‘mild’ to ‘severe’ with FAS being on the ‘severe’ end of the spectrum. I write ‘mild’ and ‘severe’ in inverted commas because I believe that people without the facial features who still have the brain injury are more disadvantaged than those who have the facial features and are recognised (HOPEFULLY) by the medical profession and many people in the general population as having a medical problem even if they are unaware as to what it may be. Whereas having no visible disability is a huge handicap. This person is constantly subjected to expectations that cannot be realised and so constantly ‘fails’ their family, friends, employers, teachers and themselves. It is a very sad situation when someone tries hard but rarely succeeds in the eyes of other people. So this condition MUST be described in terms of the full spectrum fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) NOT just fetal alcohol syndrome because it is giving people the wrong idea – that they have to drink far in excess of the guidelines to produce a child with FAS which is not correct. There is no known level of alcohol consumption that is safe for the fetus. Please, if you are pregnant, please do NOT use alcohol it is the safest choice for your baby.

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