Photo by Aidan Meyer courtesy of Unsplash

What is FASD?

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) describes a continuum of permanent birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.

FASD includes, but is not limited to the following medical diagnoses:

  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
  • Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (pFAS)
  • Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND)
  • Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD)
  • Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE)

The term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is not in itself a clinical diagnosis but describes the full range of disabilities that may result from prenatal alcohol exposure. Currently, FAS is the only expression of prenatal alcohol exposure that is defined by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and assigned ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnoses.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol or safe time to drink alcohol during pregnancy. Because of this, the current recommendation of both the Surgeon General of the United States and the British Department of Health is to drink no alcohol at all if one is pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

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