Stop This Habit If You Are Pregnant. You Could Hurt The Next Three Generations

The road to becoming a mommy involves many bumps and turns. It is an open invitation for people to give lots of suggestions about how to handle the pregnancy term, what to eat, what to do and most importantly, what NOT to do.

The suggestions cover the entire spectrum of a pregnant woman’s daily life, right from the dangers of eating uncooked or undercooked seafood, avoiding an overdose of caffeine or toxic paints, to shunning stilettos and self-medication. But one thing that has some unanimous backing is the advice of staying away from alcohol.

Is alcohol really a culprit? Even the occasional one? Well, some studies claim certainty regarding this issue. Whether one is addicted, or is a social drinker or just drinks once in a while, it is important to rethink about the grave side-effects that the studies have come out with. And it is not just limited to the baby who is to be born but extends down to three generations of children to be born in the family. Since its long-standing effects can be hereditary, even the great grandchildren can suffer from the tiny shots or the moderate pegs that might seem apparently harmless.

This claim has been backed by a study by the US CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), which observed the effects of alcohol on the three subsequent generations of a mice family. It was observed that there were behavioral and developmental anomalies passed through heredity.

According to Kelly Huffman, professor of psychology at the University of California, who helmed the study, the third generation of the test mice family showed altered and degenerated body functions including lower weight, reduced size of the brain and diminished sensory-motor activity. They also showed behavioral hypersensitivity, being prone to anxiety and depression.

In the same way, human babies who are exposed to alcohol in the ante-natal stage are also subject to, what the experts call fetal alcohol spectrum disorders or FASDs. It is estimated that one in 20 children in the US may be born with the condition.

Unfortunately, the symptoms associated with this condition show all-round manifestation- through physical, mental, developmental, intellectual and behavioral forms. Therefore, the study stresses on the strong parallels seen between the experimented mice and the human foetuses who are subjected to PrEE or prenatal ethanol (or alcohol) exposure.

This view stands in contradiction to what have been largely believed until now, that controlled or moderate consumption of alcohol during pregnancy isn’t a bad idea. A few glasses of drink each week or a daily wine doesn’t amount to anything drastic. On the other hand, the babies are as smart as the other children whose moms don’t drink. In fact, a Danish survey went as far as to state that the babies, whose moms drank moderately had better mental constitution compared to their teetotaler counterparts.

But CDC or the American Academy of Paediatrics is not ready to relent on their stand yet. They maintain that any measure of alcohol exposure, however small, can be detrimental to a baby’s health and overall well-being. The effects on the children may not be too obvious or immediate, but subtle observations will yield how abstinence from alcohol results into more physically and emotionally balanced babies.

It is a mother’s prerogative to choose, and there is no doubt that she must choose wisely. Hence, there is no harm if alcohol is kept at bay during the pregnancy and breast feeding. It is better to stay away than be sorry, for there is nothing more precious to us than our babies. Isn’t it?

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