THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG CONSUMPTION ON A FETUS

Abstract

Substance abuse during pregnancy continues to become a rising threat as per increasing statistics and requires global attention to the matter for it to be solved for future proficiency. Alcohol and drug exposure to a fetus within the gestation period, especially the first trimester of pregnancy, can cause severe birth defects and an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), stillbirth, as well as miscarriage. Through extensive secondary research, the major issues can be seen through abnormalities in the brain structure and components of a child with prenatal alcohol or drug exposure, such as white matter integrity, volume reductions in several parts of the brain, and changes to gray matter, which then affect the child’s neuropsychology. It also further leads to differences in a fetus’ brain networking functional proficiency, oxidative stress, and the increase of apoptosis in neurological cells. Furthermore, substance abuse puts the mother's and baby’s lives at risk during pregnancy delivery due to the mortality rates that prenatal substance exposure brings. Due to social stigma and the many gaps that are still left in this field of research, it is critical that attention be brought to this global issue to ensure safety for our future generations.