Take a look at the two brains in the figure above. The one on the left obviously looks very healthy compared to the one on the right. Now think about all the things that could cause this size difference. These are two brains from children 6 weeks old. The brain on the left is a healthy brain and the one on the right is an underdeveloped brain from a child suffering from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. This is a preventable birth defect. Would you risk the chance of causing this harm to a child?
Ania, a baby girl, born in 2008 in Poland was born drunk. She was over the legal blood alcohol level for adults. Her blood alcohol level was .29. The legal limit here in the United States is .08. In perspective Ania’s blood alcohol level was equivalent to an adult drinking about 2 1/3 bottles of wine. That is ridiculous. Ania came into the world drunk and then had to be weaned off of alcohol. She then suffered through many physical and mental problems because of the FAS she was born with. It was not Ania’s fault that she contracted FAS but her parents.
This needs to change. People need to be more aware of the consequences of their actions. No child deserves to have the odds stacked against them purely because their parents were too naïve to think that their actions wouldn’t carry consequences for their unborn child. Is it worth it? No.
Once Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has taken affect the damage is irreversible. The child will go through life with physical and mental handicaps as shown in Figure 2. This can easily be avoided. No child must face this life. If every mother didn’t drink this would not happen. Some people think that one or two drinks a week is okay when you are pregnant. This may be true for some people, but would you want to risk the chance of hurting your unborn child? Some people don’t care, but an unborn child is the future generation. If you were adult enough to get pregnant you can be adult enough to keep yourself healthy to ensure the health of the child in your womb.
Physical Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome include but are not limited to, a small head, thin upper lip, underdeveloped jaw, and a flat cheek area. To look at these characteristics refer to figure 3.
Figure 3
If a woman is to drink alcohol in excess in the first weeks of pregnancy she will be affecting the development of the child’s brain, heart, arms, eyes, and legs. Throughout the entire pregnancy the brain is being developed. At anytime during the pregnancy if the woman is to drink she could cause mental retardation to her child. We need to educate mothers fully when they are pregnant to the affects their actions have on the child within their womb.
Damage Caused by Alcohol:
1st Trimester:
causes greatest brain damage, facial malformations, miscarriage, damages heart, liver and kidneys
2nd Trimester: impairs brain development, damages muscles, teeth, bones and skin
3rd Trimester: impairs lung development, poor weight gain for fetus, causes early labor and delivery
Figure 4
The Damage Caused by Alcohol Table, Figure 4, shows the damages to the developing fetus by trimester. Again this breaks down the affects a pregnant woman’s actions have on their unborn child.
People need to be more aware of the consequences of their actions. No child deserves the aftermath of their parents naivety. Is it worth it? No. We can prevent this by educating mothers before more children are hurt.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Feature Article
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a problem. It is growing every year even though there are advances in medical education. One in five hundred children born have fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, otherwise known as FAS, is a birth defect that occurs when the mother of an unborn child drinks alcohol while pregnant. For an unborn child any amount of alcohol is dangerous and can cause mental and physical retardation. The reason that alcohol causes such problems for unborn children is that the alcohol is absorbed through the placenta and gets to the developing fetus causing irreversible damage.
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows the difference between two brains of children the same age, 6 weeks old. The brain on the left is a normal brain. The one on the right is an underdeveloped brain, caused by FAS. This is a preventable birth defect. Would you risk the chance of causing this harm to a child?
Figure 2
One in five hundred children have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Once Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has taken affect the damage is irreversible. The child will go through life with physical and mental handicaps as shown in Figure 2. This can easily be avoided. No child must face this life. If every mother didn’t drink this would not happen. Some people think that one or two drinks a week is okay when you are pregnant. This may be true for some people, but would anyone want to risk the chance of hurting their unborn child? Some people don’t care, but an unborn child is the future generation. If you were adult enough to get pregnant you can be adult enough to keep yourself healthy to ensure the health of the child in your womb.
Physical Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome include but are not limited to, a small head, thin upper lip, underdeveloped jaw, and a flat cheek area. To look at these characteristics refer to figure 3.
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 4, above, shows the development of a child in the womb. If a woman were to drink alcohol in excess in the first weeks of pregnancy she would be affecting the development of the child’s brain, heart, arms, eyes, and legs. Throughout the entire pregnancy the brain is being developed. At anytime during the pregnancy if the woman were to drink she could cause mental retardation to her child. We need to educate mothers fully when they are pregnant to the affects their actions have on the child within their womb.
Damage Caused by Alcohol:
1st Trimester:
causes greatest brain damage, facial malformations, miscarriage, damages heart, liver and kidneys
2nd Trimester: impairs brain development, damages muscles, teeth, bones and skin
3rd Trimester: impairs lung development, poor weight gain for fetus, causes early labor and delivery
Figure 5
The Damage Caused by Alcohol Table, Figure 5, shows the damages to the developing fetus by trimester. Again this breaks down the affects a pregnant woman’s actions have on their unborn child.
A baby girl born in 2008 in Poland was born drunk. She was over the legal limit for adults. Her blood alcohol level was .29. In perspective that would be equivalent to an adult drinking about 2 1/3 bottles of wine. That is ridiculous. The child coming into the world drunk must then be weaned off of alcohol. It is not the child’s fault but the parents.
This needs to change. People need to be more aware of the consequences of their actions. No child deserves to have the odds stacked against them purely because their parents were too naïve to think that their actions wouldn’t carry consequences for their unborn child. Is it worth it? No.
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows the difference between two brains of children the same age, 6 weeks old. The brain on the left is a normal brain. The one on the right is an underdeveloped brain, caused by FAS. This is a preventable birth defect. Would you risk the chance of causing this harm to a child?
Figure 2
One in five hundred children have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Once Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has taken affect the damage is irreversible. The child will go through life with physical and mental handicaps as shown in Figure 2. This can easily be avoided. No child must face this life. If every mother didn’t drink this would not happen. Some people think that one or two drinks a week is okay when you are pregnant. This may be true for some people, but would anyone want to risk the chance of hurting their unborn child? Some people don’t care, but an unborn child is the future generation. If you were adult enough to get pregnant you can be adult enough to keep yourself healthy to ensure the health of the child in your womb.
Physical Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome include but are not limited to, a small head, thin upper lip, underdeveloped jaw, and a flat cheek area. To look at these characteristics refer to figure 3.
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 4, above, shows the development of a child in the womb. If a woman were to drink alcohol in excess in the first weeks of pregnancy she would be affecting the development of the child’s brain, heart, arms, eyes, and legs. Throughout the entire pregnancy the brain is being developed. At anytime during the pregnancy if the woman were to drink she could cause mental retardation to her child. We need to educate mothers fully when they are pregnant to the affects their actions have on the child within their womb.
Damage Caused by Alcohol:
1st Trimester:
causes greatest brain damage, facial malformations, miscarriage, damages heart, liver and kidneys
2nd Trimester: impairs brain development, damages muscles, teeth, bones and skin
3rd Trimester: impairs lung development, poor weight gain for fetus, causes early labor and delivery
Figure 5
The Damage Caused by Alcohol Table, Figure 5, shows the damages to the developing fetus by trimester. Again this breaks down the affects a pregnant woman’s actions have on their unborn child.
A baby girl born in 2008 in Poland was born drunk. She was over the legal limit for adults. Her blood alcohol level was .29. In perspective that would be equivalent to an adult drinking about 2 1/3 bottles of wine. That is ridiculous. The child coming into the world drunk must then be weaned off of alcohol. It is not the child’s fault but the parents.
This needs to change. People need to be more aware of the consequences of their actions. No child deserves to have the odds stacked against them purely because their parents were too naïve to think that their actions wouldn’t carry consequences for their unborn child. Is it worth it? No.
Profile-Final
It was a brisk November morning, and I had woken before my parents for the first time in ages. I was going to a friend’s trial to be supportive as he got sentenced. I decided to take some of the morning burden off of my dad and walk the dogs for him. As I was getting ready to walk out the door I left a note explaining where I was going and why, I left it on the kitchen sink as always. I got in my car and started out to meet my friend’s mom and head to the hearing.
I drove down a back road that I knew very well and looked down at my radio to change the station while rounding a sharp turn. This was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made and I quickly learned that. As I looked up I saw a school bus headed straight for me in my lane over the double yellow line. I had no time to react before impact. The school bus quickly pulled over. My car would not move and was sitting in the middle of the road. I tried to open my door and couldn’t get it opened. Finally I reached over to my passenger door opened it and climbed out of my car. As I was looking at the damage to my car I pulled out my cell phone and called a friend of mine who drives a tow truck.
As the phone rang I drifted into a child hood memory. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table as I was setting it for dinner. I dropped a fork while trying to set his place and he got aggravated quickly and began to yell. I tried to brush it off, but as I walked his glass of milk to him I spilled it all over him. He quickly began yelling and I cowered until my mom yelled back for me. Billy then answered the phone.
As I hung up the phone I began walking to the bus. I got on the bus saw three kids and noticed the bus driver was not there. I got off the bus and noticed she was talking to someone stopped in the road behind me. I walked over to her and asked, “Ma’am are you and the kids ok?”
“I’m fine but I’m not sure about the kids, they are handicap.”
She went back to her conversation and I began walking away. I pulled out my phone and called my mom. As I was talking to her I began freaking out. My dad was going to flip! This was not good. My mom tried to tell me he didn’t have to find out, looking at my car there was no way he would not find out. He had yelled at me when I fell down the stairs as a child, wrecking my car was so much worse. He was going to be mad; no he was going to be furious. This was going to be inexcusable in his eyes, I could feel it.
Billy walked up to me out of nowhere and I instantly started crying. “It’s ok Marissa, accidents happen.”
“Not like this they don’t! My dad is going to kill me.”
“He will understand.”
“Billy, you know my dad. He will not understand this one.”
I had been riding my bike one day and had somehow manages to fall off the sidewalk with the front tire and flip the bike. I did a summersault over the handle bars and landed on the cement sidewalk. I was all scuffed up and began crying, my dad ran from the back yard to see what was wrong and began yelling when he found me. Billy had witnessed this from across the street. He knew how my dad was.
The state trooper walked up and began assessing the damages on the school bus and my cavalier. I was shaking when my mom showed up. She jumped out of the car, ran up, and gave me a hug. The state trooper had already taken the bus driver’s statement and then asked for me to come to his vehicle to give mine.
“I need you to tell me what happened and then write your statement here,” he said as he pointed to the box I was to write my statement in.
“I was on my way out of town on Happy Creek to meet a friend’s mom for his court hearing, as I came around the turn the bus was over the double yellow line and in my lane and before I had time to think about moving we collided.”
“She said you were in her lane.”
“Ok.”With that I quickly decided it would be better not to argue with the cop. Then I quickly started to panic again. My dad was going to have my ass. There was no question about it. This was my first day of thanksgiving break my freshman year of college; I was nowhere near being an adult in my father’s eyes. My mom was trying to figure out how to get around telling my dad, which I knew was never going to work, but that was always her solution; don’t tell him and he won’t know. My dad was intelligent and I knew he would find my car one way or another. Billy kept saying that my dad was not going to freak out, I didn’t believe him. Finally I had to call my dad, because my car had to be towed somewhere and it would be cheaper to just take it home. Once Billy’s boss caught wind of this tow my dad was going to be called, after all he drank coffee at that tow shop every morning before work. I finally dialed my dad’s cell.
“Dutch?”
“Hey Papa.”
“Thanks for walking the dogs this morning, did you make it to the hearing yet?”
“No I never made it to meet his mom.”
“What happened?”
“I got in an accident on Happy Creek.”
“Are you ok?”
“Yea, Mama’s here and Billy is towing it, where should he tow it to.”
“How bad is it?”
“It won’t move.”
“Ok, well just have him tow it here. Are you sure you’re ok?”
“I think so.”
“Ok. Accidents happen Dutch, it will be ok. I love you.”
I about dropped my phone. I quickly collected myself and replied, “I love you too.”
I couldn’t believe it. My dad was never understanding when I got in an accident. My mom always was, but she was the parent I got my accident prone tendencies from. Every accident my mother had been in while I was growing up I distinctly remember my dad’s horrible attitude and his “you should have been able to avoid this” comments. I had been in a few fender benders in the two years I had been driving and every time my dad flipped out on me. I had no idea how this one was different, but something had changed in my dad and that was more apparent than ever that day.
I later found out that Billy had talked to my dad and had told him that he needed to be a little more understanding with me, because every time he flipped out I freaked out. I felt horrible about the accident especially because there were three kids on the bus, I really didn’t need any more grief than I was already giving myself. My dad finally understood that. Ever since then my dad and I have become closer. Before I thought he was just mean and cranky all the time, and because my mom always tried to hide things that would get him upset, I had learned to fear him. That day the fear was replaced by an understanding that has since grown.
I drove down a back road that I knew very well and looked down at my radio to change the station while rounding a sharp turn. This was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made and I quickly learned that. As I looked up I saw a school bus headed straight for me in my lane over the double yellow line. I had no time to react before impact. The school bus quickly pulled over. My car would not move and was sitting in the middle of the road. I tried to open my door and couldn’t get it opened. Finally I reached over to my passenger door opened it and climbed out of my car. As I was looking at the damage to my car I pulled out my cell phone and called a friend of mine who drives a tow truck.
As the phone rang I drifted into a child hood memory. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table as I was setting it for dinner. I dropped a fork while trying to set his place and he got aggravated quickly and began to yell. I tried to brush it off, but as I walked his glass of milk to him I spilled it all over him. He quickly began yelling and I cowered until my mom yelled back for me. Billy then answered the phone.
As I hung up the phone I began walking to the bus. I got on the bus saw three kids and noticed the bus driver was not there. I got off the bus and noticed she was talking to someone stopped in the road behind me. I walked over to her and asked, “Ma’am are you and the kids ok?”
“I’m fine but I’m not sure about the kids, they are handicap.”
She went back to her conversation and I began walking away. I pulled out my phone and called my mom. As I was talking to her I began freaking out. My dad was going to flip! This was not good. My mom tried to tell me he didn’t have to find out, looking at my car there was no way he would not find out. He had yelled at me when I fell down the stairs as a child, wrecking my car was so much worse. He was going to be mad; no he was going to be furious. This was going to be inexcusable in his eyes, I could feel it.
Billy walked up to me out of nowhere and I instantly started crying. “It’s ok Marissa, accidents happen.”
“Not like this they don’t! My dad is going to kill me.”
“He will understand.”
“Billy, you know my dad. He will not understand this one.”
I had been riding my bike one day and had somehow manages to fall off the sidewalk with the front tire and flip the bike. I did a summersault over the handle bars and landed on the cement sidewalk. I was all scuffed up and began crying, my dad ran from the back yard to see what was wrong and began yelling when he found me. Billy had witnessed this from across the street. He knew how my dad was.
The state trooper walked up and began assessing the damages on the school bus and my cavalier. I was shaking when my mom showed up. She jumped out of the car, ran up, and gave me a hug. The state trooper had already taken the bus driver’s statement and then asked for me to come to his vehicle to give mine.
“I need you to tell me what happened and then write your statement here,” he said as he pointed to the box I was to write my statement in.
“I was on my way out of town on Happy Creek to meet a friend’s mom for his court hearing, as I came around the turn the bus was over the double yellow line and in my lane and before I had time to think about moving we collided.”
“She said you were in her lane.”
“Ok.”With that I quickly decided it would be better not to argue with the cop. Then I quickly started to panic again. My dad was going to have my ass. There was no question about it. This was my first day of thanksgiving break my freshman year of college; I was nowhere near being an adult in my father’s eyes. My mom was trying to figure out how to get around telling my dad, which I knew was never going to work, but that was always her solution; don’t tell him and he won’t know. My dad was intelligent and I knew he would find my car one way or another. Billy kept saying that my dad was not going to freak out, I didn’t believe him. Finally I had to call my dad, because my car had to be towed somewhere and it would be cheaper to just take it home. Once Billy’s boss caught wind of this tow my dad was going to be called, after all he drank coffee at that tow shop every morning before work. I finally dialed my dad’s cell.
“Dutch?”
“Hey Papa.”
“Thanks for walking the dogs this morning, did you make it to the hearing yet?”
“No I never made it to meet his mom.”
“What happened?”
“I got in an accident on Happy Creek.”
“Are you ok?”
“Yea, Mama’s here and Billy is towing it, where should he tow it to.”
“How bad is it?”
“It won’t move.”
“Ok, well just have him tow it here. Are you sure you’re ok?”
“I think so.”
“Ok. Accidents happen Dutch, it will be ok. I love you.”
I about dropped my phone. I quickly collected myself and replied, “I love you too.”
I couldn’t believe it. My dad was never understanding when I got in an accident. My mom always was, but she was the parent I got my accident prone tendencies from. Every accident my mother had been in while I was growing up I distinctly remember my dad’s horrible attitude and his “you should have been able to avoid this” comments. I had been in a few fender benders in the two years I had been driving and every time my dad flipped out on me. I had no idea how this one was different, but something had changed in my dad and that was more apparent than ever that day.
I later found out that Billy had talked to my dad and had told him that he needed to be a little more understanding with me, because every time he flipped out I freaked out. I felt horrible about the accident especially because there were three kids on the bus, I really didn’t need any more grief than I was already giving myself. My dad finally understood that. Ever since then my dad and I have become closer. Before I thought he was just mean and cranky all the time, and because my mom always tried to hide things that would get him upset, I had learned to fear him. That day the fear was replaced by an understanding that has since grown.
Activity
bang… Bang… BANG. That noise was so common in the garage. The fresh smell of cut wood surrounded us. Days like this were what my memories were built from. We would stay out in that garage for hours just tinkering around. That was what he was good at, tinkering. On this particular day we were building miniature houses to hang for the birds. “Ok Dutch hold these two pieces of wood like this, and I’ll hammer them together.”
“You’re going to hit my fingers!”
“No I won’t trust me.”
This was always easier said than done. He was great with his hand, really he was, but he could not protect my little hands with his other because he had no physical use of it. I tried to trust him I did but then I flinched as the hammer came closer to my small hands, suddenly I felt immense pain in three of my fingers. I started crying. He quickly dropped the hammer and took me up in his embrace. I felt safe again and soon stopped crying. As he handed me the hammer he said, “I’m sorry Dutch. How bout you hammer the rest.” This was a first experience for me. I was so excited.
Once we built the house, painted it, and let it dry, we decided to hang it. I walked out of the garage and quickly found where we should hang it. I pointed up and said, “There.” He walked over and handed me the house, I was very confused he always had to hang them, I was too small.
“You get to hang this one, I’ll lift you up so you can reach.”
“Ok Papa!” I was thrilled. This was a day of firsts for my dad and me.
“You’re going to hit my fingers!”
“No I won’t trust me.”
This was always easier said than done. He was great with his hand, really he was, but he could not protect my little hands with his other because he had no physical use of it. I tried to trust him I did but then I flinched as the hammer came closer to my small hands, suddenly I felt immense pain in three of my fingers. I started crying. He quickly dropped the hammer and took me up in his embrace. I felt safe again and soon stopped crying. As he handed me the hammer he said, “I’m sorry Dutch. How bout you hammer the rest.” This was a first experience for me. I was so excited.
Once we built the house, painted it, and let it dry, we decided to hang it. I walked out of the garage and quickly found where we should hang it. I pointed up and said, “There.” He walked over and handed me the house, I was very confused he always had to hang them, I was too small.
“You get to hang this one, I’ll lift you up so you can reach.”
“Ok Papa!” I was thrilled. This was a day of firsts for my dad and me.
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