Heart: A heart murmur that frequently disappears by one year of age. Ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, Tetralogy of Fallot, coarctation of the aorta, and/or cardiac rhythm dysfunction. Bones: Joint anomalies including abnormal position and function, altered palmar crease patterns, small distal phalanges, and small fifth fingernails. Kidneys: Horseshoe, aplastic, dysplastic, or hypoplastic kidneys. Eyes: Strabismus, optic nerve hypoplasia (which may cause light sensitivity, decreased visual acuity, or involuntary eye movements). Occasional problems: ptosis of the eyelid, microphthalmia, cleft lip with or without a cleft palate, webbed neck, short neck, spina bifida, and hydrocephalus. Cause
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is caused by a woman consuming alcohol while pregnant. Alcohol crosses through the placenta to the unborn child and can interfere with normal development. Alcohol is a teratogen (causes birth defects) and there is no known safe amount of alcohol to consume while pregnant and there is no known safe time during pregnancy to consume alcohol to prevent birth defects such as FASD. Evidence of harm from low levels of alcohol consumption is not clear and since there are not known safe amounts of alcohol, women are suggested to completely abstain from drinking when trying to get pregnant and while pregnant. Small amounts of alcohol may not cause an abnormal appearance, however, small amounts of alcohol consumption while pregnant may cause milder symptoms such as behavioral problems and also increases the risk of miscarriage.Among those women who are alcoholic, an estimated one-third of their children have FAS.
In Western Australia, the rate of births resulting in FASD is 0.02 per 1,000 births for non-Indigenous Australians, however among indigenous births the rate is 2.76 per 1,000 births. In Victoria, there have been no registered FASD related births for indigenous Australians, but the rate for the general population in Victoria is 0.01–0.03 per 1000 births. There have been no dedicated FASD clinics within Western Australia, but there are also no nationally supported diagnostic criteria anywhere in Australia. Passive surveillance is a prevention technique used within Australia to assist in monitoring and establishing detectable defects during pregnancy and childhood. History
From the 1960s to the 1980s, alcohol was commonly used as a tocolytic, a method to stop preterm labor. The method originated with Dr. Fritz Fuchs, the chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Cornell University Medical College. Doctors recommended a small amount of alcohol to calm the uterus during contractions in early pregnancy or Braxton Hicks contractions. In later stages of pregnancy, the alcohol was administered intravenously and often in large amounts. "Women experienced similar effects as occur with oral ingestion, including intoxication, nausea and vomiting, and potential alcohol poisoning, followed by hangovers when the alcohol was discontinued." Vomiting put the mother at a high risk for aspiration and was "a brutal procedure for all involved". Because the alcohol was being given intravenously, the doctor could continue giving the treatment to the mother long after she had passed out, resulting in her being more intoxicated than would otherwise be possible.