Alcohol,Drugs, & Tobacco
By: Ansley Harper, Devin Bailey, & Baylee Greenwood
Alcohol
1. Effects include:
- Intellectual disability
- Heart defects
- Cleft palate
- Defects of the face, fingers, arms, and legs
- Hyperactive and limited attention spans
- Can suffer lifelong illnesses
Drugs
During your pregnancy when you're not feeling well and you decide to take medicine to feel better you may not know what type of effect it can have on your baby.
- Aspirin- dangerous when taking large amounts during pregnancy, both mother and baby may experience abnormal bleeding during delivery. (Tylenol is usually recommended instead)
- Tranquilizers- an increase chance of cleft palate or cleft lip
- Caffeine- although not usually seen as a drug, the ingredient found in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, and some pain medicines have caused birth defects in animals. There's no proof that caffeine is harmful to humans, many doctors recommended no more than 2 to 3 servings.
- Vitamins- take only what your doctor tells you to. Large doses of some vitamins, such as vitamin A, can cause birth defects
- Marijuana- many harmful gases are passed along to the baby, the baby breathes them in and they can make the baby sick, can have breathing problems, and catch colds quicker
- Cocaine/crack- cause problems before and after birth, higher risk for miscarriage and stillbirth, babies may have discomfort and feeding problems and they require special care, they can sometimes have blood circulation problems and brain damage, and long term behavioral problems
- Heroin- if you're a heroin addict your baby will probably be born addicted and will need special care and medicines as he or she goes through withdrawal, and the baby is at higher risk for premature birth and poor growth
- Other street drugs (speed, LSD, hash, uppers, and downers) can also cause problems for the babies growth and development, mothers addicted may not have nutrition and health care, eventually causing more problems.
Tobacco
- Smoking- doctors warn women that they may have a result in fetal injury, premature birth, and low birth weight and it appears on cigarette packets, all of the products in cigarettes reach the baby through the placenta
- Nicotine- causes problems with the flow of blood through the blood vessels and it also limits blood flow
- Non-smoking mothers and babies are at risk when breathing smoke filled air around them (2nd hand smoke) and babies exposed are just as likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome / How Drugs Deform Your Baby / FAS FASD FAE Documentary Video