Drinking During Pregnancy: A Case Study

I chose to write my paper on the chapter two context involving a friend ordering alcohol while in the second trimester of her pregnancy. Many people believe that a glass of wine every now and then is not a bad thing to do during pregnancy, even some doctors say that it is tolerable. It may not be worst possible thing to ingest while pregnant, but in your second trimester the baby is still developing crucial parts of the body and the bones are becoming more dense. I think avoiding substances like alcohol of any sort will definitely be better off for your child. I would suggest to my friend to avoid any potential teratogens because they can damage the development of your child. As stated in the text by Arnett (2015) teratogens are ?behaviors, environments, and bodily conditions that could be harmful to the developing organism? (pg. 68). Wine or any alcohol of that sort falls into the category of being a teratogen and can in fact harm the baby, even if your doctor says it is ?okay? it can still be extremely harmful. Arnett also states in the text that, ?Both the embryo and the fetus are vulnerable to a variety of teratogens? (pg.68). In the article ?Alcohol Abuse in Pregnant Women? they explain the dangers of drinking during pregnancy by breaking down what exactly happens and the …show more content…
In week four the head becomes apparent and structures on the face begin to form, like nose, mouth, etc. Another extremely crucial development that occurs during this same week involves the heart. This is the week the heart begins to beat, and other internal structures like the rib cage appear. Consuming alcohol during this crucial development period can also increase your risk of miscarrying a child. If you are drinking during the third week of the pregnancy your child heart has not even began beating and is in an extremely fragile state and introducing teratogens can catastrophically hurt and even kill your