FAS

As I checked their sources I realized that they all had at least one thing in common, they got majority of their information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC. (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/pregrisk.htm) Everything else was just related information from smaller studies or local studies. The CDC reports that in the year 2000 0.9 percent of women reported drinking while pregnant. But these numbers don't add up when you look at the number of children that are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It is extremely hard to put a solid number on the number of women who drink while pregnant because majority of the women do not want to admit or be blamed for their child's abnormalities. It is also hard to put a number on the amount of children born with abnormalities due to fetal alcohol abuse because sometimes symptoms are not prevalent until the child is older. These studies are done while the child is an infant. But numerous studies have been done they say a large number of incarcerated people have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE). FAE is harder to diagnosis because the symptoms are not visible such as behavioral disorders and attention deficits. A number of children go undiagnosed because their symptoms are attributed to something else such as Attention Deficit Disorder. Although the statistical results often vary one thing was common in every study. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States. This statement completely contradicts the .9 percent of women that reported drinking while pregnant. This gross discrepancy means a number of women are not being educated on the harmful effects of drinking while pregnant. .
             How much is too much?.
             Every site I visited stated that alcohol was dangerous for a growing fetus; these sites also said that the only way to be one hundred percent sure was to abstain from alcohol period.