In Poland, more children are born with alcohol-induced dysfunctions than with Down syndrome. The idea of punishing women for unintentionally causing a miscarriage comes back almost obsessively, but getting drunk in pregnancy is legal. In our country, the tradition of indulging drunk people, not only drivers, is long and strong.
20 children out of 1000 born in Poland suffer from the effects of drunkenness of their mothers during pregnancy. From time to time the media reports about pregnant women going to the delivery room with such a high concentration of alcohol in their blood that the woman gives birth in a state of total blackout, by no means induced by anesthesia.
No drinking at all
Dr. Jacek Tulimowski, a gynecologist, says that he forbids all his pregnant patients from drinking alcohol. – Many women try to negotiate arguing that a glass of wine is good for their and their baby’s health. Then I say that if they find at least one scientific study showing what dose of alcohol is safe for the fetus, they can follow it. The truth is that there is no such research – he explains. She adds that she is trying to explain it to her patients graphically. – Imagine your child’s brain is filled with black neurons. Each time you drink alcohol, you erase part of the black field with the eraser. Worse, it is a completely irreversible process, he says. The baby that the mother drank while pregnant may develop normally at first. However, when she is to go to kindergarten, it turns out that she differs from the rest of her peers. It often manifests itself in a similar way to ADHD or Asperger’s disease. – Then it turns out that at the age of 20, the descendant of the drinking mother is at the age of 12 – warns Dr. Tulimowski.
Drunken fetus
4,5 per mille of alcohol was in the blood of a newborn born last year by a drunk 24-year-old in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. Two years earlier, a pregnant woman who was admitted to the provincial hospital in Skierniewice had almost 5 per mille. Unfortunately, the child died. Dr. Tulimowski said that in addition to the damage caused by alcohol, the child of a drinking mother may have a withdrawal syndrome, a full spectrum of delirium. The alcohol passes into the baby’s bloodstream and is also found in the amniotic fluid. Therefore, no amount of it is safe for the fetus. – The concentration of alcohol in the fetus about 40 minutes after its consumption by the mother will be the same as in her body, because the placenta does not protect the child – emphasizes Dr. Ewa Kostyk, specialist in children’s diseases and clinical genetics.
Alcohol aftermath
Doctors have no doubts that drinking alcohol by a pregnant woman harms her baby. It can be born with FAS, a fetal alcohol syndrome characterized by facial abnormalities. The child then has a flat, asymmetrical face, wide-set narrow eyes, a short nose without a nasal canal, and a thin upper lip. His physical and mental development is disturbed. A toddler may have problems with maintaining balance and eye-hand coordination. These dysfunctions cannot be cured. According to specialists, the only way to prevent this is not to drink alcohol while pregnant. Often times, the effects of a mother drinking alcohol are not immediately apparent. Initially, the baby develops normally. Only later do problems with learning, concentration and memory appear. Children of drinking mothers also suffer from a group of FASD disorders manifested by hyperactivity, impaired emotional development and speech, psychomotor retardation, and autism disorders.
Future mom education
Dr. Tulimowski talks about a study conducted a few years ago at the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw, during which pregnant women were asked if they consumed alcohol, and then the level of its metabolites in the blood was determined. It found that although all of the patients said they did not drink, 30% were lying. Women’s awareness of the harmfulness of drinking alcohol during pregnancy is insufficient. The State Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems (PARPA) is planning next year to conduct a large, nationwide information campaign on the harmfulness of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Research shows that only 20% of gynecologists warn pregnant women against the effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Dr. Ewa Kostyk, a specialist in children’s diseases and clinical genetics, suggested that, as part of the campaign, the topic of alcohol damage to the fetus should appear in one of the popular series, it would be a chance to reach a large audience.
Polish research
The State Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems (PARPA) conducted in four voivodships: Śląskie, Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie and Podkarpackie, the “Alicja” study on the spread of FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders). 2,5 thousand were selected. children aged 7 to 9, but parents of only 409 children decided to participate in the study. – The results are hard to accept. More children damaged by alcohol are born in Poland than children with Down syndrome – said the director of PARPA, Krzysztof Brzózka. “For every XNUMX live births, no fewer than four children have full-blown FAS, another eight have partial FASD, and another eight are born with damage to the central nervous system,” he said. Similar studies were carried out in Europe, apart from Poles, only by Italians and Croats. In solving this problem – as director Brzózka said – we want to follow the example of Canada, where a person diagnosed with alcohol damage and their entire environment are under constant care.
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