Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is an increasing problem in our world today. At least 5,000 infants are born each year with FAS, or about one out of every 750 live births, which is an alarming number. In the United States there has been a significant increase in the rate of infants born with FAS form 1 per 10,000 births in 1979 to 6.7 per 10,000 in 1993 (Chang, Wilikins-Haug, Berman, Goetz 1). In a report, Substance Abuse and the American Woman, sent out by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, at least one of every five pregnant women uses alcohol and/or other drugs during pregnancy (http:/www.nofas.org/stats.htm). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) refers to a group of physical and mental birth defects that are the direct consequence of a woman’s consumption of alcohol during her pregnancy. It is a series of both mental and physical birth defects ranging from mental retardation, growth deficiencies, central nervous system dysfunction, craniofacial abnormalities and behavioral maladjustments. FAS is the leading known cause of mental retardation, above both Spina Bifida and Down’s Syndrome according to the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1991 (http://www.nofas.org/stats.htm). There is a lack of knowledge and medical training concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which increases the occurrence and treatment of this terrible disease. There are many terrible effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In the Institute of Medicine’s article, The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment, they report that alcohol produces the most serious neurobehavioral effects in the fetus compared to other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana (http://www.nofas.org/stats.htm). There is a wide range of effects and disorders that are a result of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome causes physical, mental and emotional effects, which are irreversible. As stated before FAS is the lead...
