is for ALCOHOL

Please do not consume me during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a term that includes a range of physical, mental and behavioral outcomes caused by prenatal alcohol exposure.

The more alcohol consumed during pregnancy, the poorer your child's motor coordination, speed of information processing, reasoning, and intelligence and achievement test scores during the preschool and school years.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): slow physical growth, pattern of 3 facial abnormalities (short eyelid openings; thin upper lip; smooth or flattened indentation from bottom of nose to upper lip), and brain injury (memory, language, and communication, attention span and activity level, planning and reasoning, motor coordination, or social skills)

HEAVY DRINKING THROUGHOUT PREGNANCY

is for (INFECTIOUS) DISEASE

Infectious Diseases are one of the most harmful teratogens of pregnancy because doctors advise against taking medicine. They can come in 3 different ways. The 1st and most common type of infectious diseases are viral, which can be caught in numerous ways. The other 2 are bacterial and parasitic which are less common because the mother would have to be in a questionable position to contract them.

is for ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Babies can be "born polluted" by chemicals that impair prenatal development and can increase the likelihood of life-threatening diseases and health problems later in life

Exposure to pollution can happen by ingestion, inhalation, etc.

Pollutants include mercury, PCBs, lead, and dioxins all which can lead to birth deformities such as low birth weight, smaller heads, lower intelligence test scores, brain damage, physical deformities

is for ILLEGAL DRUGS

The use of highly addictive mood-altering drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, has become more widespread, especially in poverty-stricken inner-city areas, where these drugs provide a temporary escape from the daily life of hopelessness.

Babies born to users of cocaine or heroin are at risk for a wide variety of problems, including prematurity, low birth weight, physical defects, breathing difficulties, and death around the time of birth.

Another illegal drug, marijuana, is used more widely than heroin and cocaine. Researchers have linked prenatal marijuana exposure to attention, memory, and academic achievement difficulties.

is for NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Many pregnant women take over-the-counter medications without consulting their doctors. Aspirin is one of the most common. Several studies suggest that regular aspirin use is linked to low birth weight, infant death around the time of birth and lower intelligence test scores in early childhood.

is for PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Use of medications during the first trimester of pregnancy has increased in the U.S. Today, on average, pregnant women take three to five different medications; few moms-to-be make it through the entire 9 months without taking at least one drug.

Of course, drugs can be an essential part of medical treatment. But pregnant women may not be as cautious as they should be about medications. They might take for granted that if a drug was prescribed by their doctor, then it must be safe.

A widely used potent teratogen is a vitamin A derivative called isotretinoin, prescribed to treat severe acne and taken by hundreds of thousands of women of childbearing age. Exposure during the first trimester results in eye, ear, skull, brain, heart, and immune system abnormalities.