Fetus During Pregnancy

Alcohol has been a topic of controversy not only in the United States, but in the entire world since its origination. The reason, of course, is due to the effects alcohol has on the human body when too much is consumed. In the United States, issues relating to alcohol can obviously be tied back to the time of the Prohibition, which lasted an entire decade, starting at the beginning of the 1920s. The idea behind illegalizing alcohol at the time was aimed towards curbing negative social behaviors such as alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling, and domestic violence.1 Obviously, for an entire country to pass a law banning the sale and consumption of alcohol, people were aware of the negative effects of alcohol. Although people were aware of the negative …show more content…
Furthermore, the transport of alcohol through the placenta to the fetus can have additional implications. For example, two conditions affecting the placenta have been identified due to this exchange of alcohol; placenta abruption and placental previa.4 Placental abruption occurs when the placenta detaches from a pregnant females uterine wall. Thus, the fetus can no longer receive blood or oxygen from the mother and must be delivered immediately. Placental previa occurs when the placenta attaches low in the uterine wall between the fetus and the cervix. Consequently, the infant must be delivered via cesarean section. “Placental abruption accounts for up to a third of all perinatal deaths, mostly due to its detrimental effects on length of gestation and fetal growth. Similarly, placenta previa is a major contributor to fetal growth restriction, preterm delivery and perinatal mortality.” 4(670-671) Clearly, passing alcohol onto the fetus through the placenta from the bloodstream has devastating effects. With that said, although it is known how alcohol is passed from the mother to the baby, the question now continues on to ask what areas of the fetus are most affected by