ALCOHOL USE DURING PREGNANCY

Alcohol and pregnancy simply don’t go together

I just found out that I'm pregnant.I

regularly drinks alcohol until I realised about
FIRST TRIMESTER OF this pregnancy.How could it affect my
baby’s development? What had
PREGNANCY
happen in the first trimester of pregnancy?
In order to get normal development of the
fetus, a healthy first trimester is CRUCIAL!!!

Some women experience many symptoms, and HOW DOES ALCOHOL REACH
other women experience only a few or none at all
THE EMBRYO??
During this first trimester, the fetus is most
susceptible to damage from substances, like When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, it enters
alcohol, drugs and certain medicines, and illnesses, her bloodstream that lines the stomach and small
like rubella (German measles). intestines.
Fetus is attached to the placenta by its umbilical
Development of amniotic sac, placenta and umbilical
cord.
cord
Eventhough in the placenta, the maternal blood
The neural tube (which becomes the brain and supply is separate from the fetal blood supply,
spinal cord), the digestive system, and the heart and there is an interstitial space through which
circulatory system begin to form. nutrients, oxygen, and wastes can be transferred.
Enlargement of mammary gland,causing the breasts Alcohol is polar and small in size, so it can EASILY
to swell and become tender in preparation for diffuse from the maternal blood to the fetal blood
breast-feeding through the interstitial space of the placenta.
The uterus is growing and begins to press on your bladder
Alcohol successfully entered the fetus and will
causes to urinate more often.
travels throughout the fetus's body
Areolas (the pigmented areas around each breast’s nipple)
will enlarge and darken.

HOW ALCOHOL AFFECT DEVELOPING FETUS/EMBRYO

When alcohol travels to the fetus,it can cause many devastating effects

Distinctive facial features Problems bonding or feeding as a newborn

May have a small head, flat face, and narrow eye openings, Newborn may have to use the special milk bottle designed for
Gets more obvious by age 2 or 3 years the premature baby.

Growth problems. Damage the brain and spinal cord.

Children who were exposed to alcohol before they were born impacts the mechanisms and signaling pathways responsible
may be smaller than other children of the same age. for the creation of those brain cells,

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) Miscarriage and Stillbirth

Effect on how the baby looks, thinks, and learns.

Source:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-first-trimester NURUL KAMILIA BINTI MOHD SHOBKI (AS10469)
https://sites.duke.edu/alcohol-and-babies/content-how-does-alcohol-get-to-the-fetus/ LECTURER: SIR MUHAMMAD AMIRUDDIN IBRAHIM