for everyone living with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
for everyone living in Ireland with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
for everyone living in Ireland with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
What is Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is caused by prenatal alcohol exposure and is associated with a range of lifelong physical, mental, educational, social, and behavioural difficulties. Alcohol has an adverse effect on the developing brain, and on body organs. No amount of alcohol is safe when planning to conceive or during pregnancy.
FASD is an umbrella term used to describe a number of conditions that can be caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy. These are Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Alcohol Related Neurological Disorder (ARND), Partial Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS) and Neurodevelopmental Disorder with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (NDPAE). Alcohol consumed during pregnancy is carried by the mother’s blood and passes to the baby through the umbilical cord.
Today in Ireland we refer to FASD with Sentinel Facial Features and FASD without Sentinel Facial Features.
Sentinel facial features include short palpebral fissures (the opening between a person's eyelids), a flat or smooth philtrum (the ridge between our upper lip and nose) and thin upper lip vermilion. Having sentinel facial features does not imply a more severe form of FASD or greater impairment and are only visible in around 10% of the population that live with FASD.
Dr Mary T O'Mahoney, Specialist in Public Health Medicine at the HSE states: "No amount of alcohol at any stage of pregnancy is safe for your baby." Click here to read the Press Release issued by the HSE on World FASD Awareness Day - 9th September 2020
