Alcohol and Drugs

Alcohol, illegal drugs, and even some legal medications can seriously harm your baby.

Any drug, whether it is legal or illegal, that you allow to enter your body can have a negative impact on your unborn child. If you swallow a drug your body will deliver it to the baby in small amounts over time and if you inject or inhale a drug it goes almost directly to the baby in larger amounts.

The drugs to be concerned about are not just the illegal ones.  When you are pregnant, many medicines that you can buy over-the-counter and many drugs your health care provider prescribes can be harmful to both you and your growing fetus.

Make sure all of your health care providers know you are pregnant and it is always best to ask your health care provider for their input before you take any medication.  Also, keep in mind that other things like caffeine and nicotine as well as vitamins and herbs can affect your growing unborn child.

Street drugs can be especially harmful, and even fatal, to you and your unborn child and should always be avoided.  They can also cause malnutrition, birth defects, withdrawal symptoms, and seizures in your child. While there is no safe time to take an illegal drug, during your pregnancy is an especially problematic time. 

If you have taken an illegal drug or some other substance you think may affect you and/or your baby, do not panic.  Stop taking the drug immediately and contact your doctor, local health care provider, or hospital.

When you are pregnant and you drink beer, wine, hard liquor, or other alcoholic beverages, the alcohol gets into your blood and is passed on to your baby through the umbilical cord.  When the alcohol enters the baby's body, it can cause birth defects.

Drinking alcohol at any time during pregnancy can slow down the baby's growth and affect the baby's brain and the baby's general development. Drinking alcohol in the early stages of pregnancy can cause the facial and other physical defects associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  

Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome have many physical, mental and behavioral problems and may be small, underweight babies, and can be mentally retarded. As they get older, they often have trouble with learning, attention, memory, and problem solving.

Most children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome also have problems with work and with personal relationships when they become adults. They may have poor coordination, be impulsive, and have speech and hearing problems. The effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome last a lifetime. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome cannot be reversed, but it can be prevented by not drinking alcohol when pregnant. 

While there is no safe time to drink during your pregnancy and no amount of alcohol that is safe to consume, do not panic if you have been drinking up until now.  But what you can do is to stop drinking right away and make sure to let your doctor and adoption agency, if you are working with one, know you have been drinking. And make sure to get prenatal care as soon as possible.

Additional information about pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and pregnancy health issues can be found on the website PregnancyAndChildren.com. You can also visit the website AdoptionServices.org. and contact Adoption Services or contact Dr Vince Berger.  Dr. Berger is a licensed psychologist who has been helping birth mothers, birth fathers, and adopting families for 40 years.