Pregnancy is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable and rewarding experiences for a woman in her life. Being able to give birth and raise the child in a good and healthy environment is what all mothers dream of. During the nine months of pregnancy you have to give up a lot of things in order to keep yourself and the unborn child healthy. Whatever you do and eat during these nine months indirectly affects the child as well as helps the child later on in life.
Anything that can harm the pregnant mother or the child should be completely avoided. Alcohol is one such thing. People consume alcohol for a number of reasons but no reason is good enough for pregnant women to drink.
Always remember every time a pregnant woman has a drink the child growing in her has the drink as well.
Heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause a lot of harm to the fetus such as: low birth weight, damage to the nervous system, physical and mental defects, breathing disorders, vision problems, a weak liver and kidney, blood pressure problems, heart and urinary problems and hearing disorders. In some sever cases it can also lead to a miscarriage, premature delivery and stillbirth. Despite all these complications there are a lot of people who believe that having moderate amount of alcohol during pregnancy causes no harm to the unborn child. Over the years it has been proved that any level of alcohol consumed by a pregnant lady is not safe for the child. It is important for pregnant women to understand how alcohol affects the fetus.
When you consume alcohol it mixes in your blood stream and reaches the unborn baby through the placenta. Now the alcohol is in the blood stream of the fetus as well. The fetus will then try to metabolize the alcohol, but since it is still developing its metabolism is slower. This means the alcohol stays in your fetus for a long time. This hampers the development of organs, tissues and also causes damage to the brain cells. Very often a pregnant woman has had a few occasional drinks and later on discovers that she is pregnant.
In such situations it is recommended to take to take the necessary tests to see if the fetus is developing normally or not. Even though there is a possibility that the fetus is not harmed, make sure that you give up drinking immediately.
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