Monstrous Effects Page II.
The consumption of alcohol anytime during pregnancy is the leading cause of preventable birth defects and childhood disabilities. Alcohol is the most frequently used known human teratogen (an agent that causes birth defects) in the world. The word is derived from the Greek word tera, meaning monster.
(Little et al., 1991).
The potentially negative consequence of alcohol abuse during pregnancy have been suspected since biblical times: "Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son and now drink no wine or strong drink! (Ryrie, 1994) In ancient Cartage and Sparta laws existed prohibiting the use of alcohol by newly married couples in order to prevent conception during intoxication. During the "gin epidemic" in Britain during the 1720's, the Royal College of Physicians reported to the parliament that parental drinking was "creating children with weak, feeble and distempered children" (Lewis, 1983). Over 100years later, the House of Commons came out with a paper entitled "Effects of Drunkenness on the Nation," which contained a report on the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on the newborn, stating: "They tend to be born starved, shriveled and imperfect in form" (Lewis, 1983). It was not until 1968 in France that a physician named Lamoine and his team first described in scientific terms a group of children affected by maternal alcohol abuse, which in 1973 was termed "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FES) or Fetal Alcohol Effect (FES) by two physicians from Seattle named Jones and Smith (Caleekal , 1997). The results of the Jones and Smith study led to the 1989 United States Public Law number 100-690 being implemented which required warning labels be placed on all alcohol beverages sold in the United States alerting all pregnant women of the potential harm alcohol has to unborn babies (Streissguth et al.
