Binge drinking in pregnancy puts babies at risk of learning disorders

Prof. Barry Carpenter, the National Director for Special Educational Needs, told a nursing summit that, “There had been a 25 percent increase in children with learning disabilities in the past five years, taking the number to 950,000.”

Carpenter asserts that infants develop these disorders because a large number of young women aged between 19 to 24 binge heavily, having unplanned pregnancies followed by drinking in the vital first 13 weeks.

FASD, which is caused by poisoning in the womb, causes facial deformities, severe learning problems, and hyperactivity.

The Sun quoted Prof Carpenter as saying, "Drunken young women are poisoning their babies - it's child abuse by umbilical cord.”

"Thirty per cent of people with FASD commit suicide in later life because their lives are unbearable," Carpenter added.

Alcohol consumption leads to autism?
Pre-natal exposure to alcohol can cause learning disabilities in the developing neonate in mothers' womb. Previous studies have also shown that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can trigger autism in babies.

Autism is a neural disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and restricted behavior. These signs begin before a child is three years old.

Consequences later in life
The British Medical Association had warned earlier this year that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies in the womb.

The consequences of drinking harmful levels of alcohol during the initial months of pregnancy can appear later as behavior problems, learning disability, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, aggression, violent tendencies, impulsivity, or even increased shyness.

Any of these traits could then be considered a neurological birth defect.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has advised women to be alcohol-abstinent in pregnancy.

Though scientists are still unsure regarding the safe limit for consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, official guidelines tell women to avoid alcohol altogether in the first three months.