A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that alcohol use by pregnant women can result in birth defects in unborn children. When alcohol crosses the placenta, it enters the fetal bloodstream in a concentration equal to the mother's bloodstream. This alcohol is oxidized much more slowly than the alcohol in the mother because of the underdeveloped nature of the fetal liver. During this time of slow detoxification, the developing fetus is certain to be overexposed to the toxic effects of alcohol. Tragically, mental retardation frequently develops.

This exposure has additional disastrous consequences for the developing fetus. Low birth weight, facial abnormalities such as a small head and widely spaced eyes as well as heart problems are common occurrences in such infants. Behavior and intellect are also influenced as a result of exposure to alcohol. This combination of effects is called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Fetal Alcohol Effect is a subtle version of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, entailing a lesser degree of symptoms. Dr. Enoch Gordis' publication for the Department of Health and Human Services, Alcohol Research: Promise for the Decade, es

Most important is the necessity of women to take responsibility for their actions when it comes to caring for their own health. No one is forced to consume alcohol at any time or in any amount for that matter. I do not believe that any addiction is worth the life of a baby, given no choice but to enter the world as drunk as the mother that bore it. However, it is sometimes the case that even people who have been very highly educated continue to make poor decisions concerning their health. It can certainly be said that miracles most definitely cannot be expected in a short period of time. Extensive educational and research based data collections are somewhat time consuming to say the least. We can only look down the road toward a bright future filled with hope for the lives of the many unborn children who will be given a fair opportunity to be born with the optimal God given health that everyone deserves as they enter into the world because their mother will choose not t!

ices for such children (cf. Russell, 1980; Stanage et al., 1983)" (105).

Caleekal, Anuppa. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. 11 March 2001. *http://www.digitalism.org/hst/fetal.html*.

Meanwhile, educational information can be distributed in collaboration with agencies such as Planned Parenthood, from the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome data. State and local programs can use this information to modify their activities so that they are using the most cost-effective strategies to combat Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other alcohol-related birth defects. The cost of prevention awareness, however, should not be allowed to be an issue to argue against the fight to eliminate Fetal Alcohol Syndrome because it is impossible to put a price on a pre-natal victim to alcohol poisoning due to the careless mistake of a mother. In Studies of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Methodological Considerations, Ernest L. Abel and Edward P. Riley explain, "Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and fetal alcohol effects represent a considerable public health problem as well as an

Some common words found in the essay are:
Alcohol Syndrome, Alcohol Exposure, Promise Decade, Pytkowicz Streissguth, According Gordis, fetal alcohol, Fetal Alcohol, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol syndrome, Syndrome Women, Alcohol Syndrome-affected, Planned Parenthood, Home Page, birth defects, alcohol syndrome alcohol-related, syndrome alcohol-related, exposure alcohol, alcohol pregnant, alcohol-related birth, effects alcohol, syndrome alcohol-related birth, alcohol-related birth defects, developing fetus, babies born, alcohol syndrome fetal,
Approximate Word count = 1411
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)