Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is brain damage sustained by an infant when a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy.

FASD affects 1 out of 100 babies born in North America, making alcohol the leading cause of brain damage today. An estimated 85% of children in foster care are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure.

Babies with FASD can be born with telltale facial characteristics: anomalies to the ears and eyes,  a smooth, wide philtrum (ridges below the nose), thin upper lip, small head circumference, low birth weight, heart, liver, and joint problems, and sensory integration disfunction.

The facial signs are present if the mother drank around the 20th day of pregnancy, when the mid-face is forming.