What is fetal alcohol syndrome?

Every year on the 9th of September, the International Day of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness (FASD) is held in order to remind women that they should refrain from drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

The date is not casual: the ninth day of the ninth month of the calendar were chosen, since these are the months that human pregnancy lasts. In this way, it is easier to remember the date. At Institut Marquès we bear it in mind and we join this initiative of appropriate and necessary awareness.

This is why, exactly today, on the International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Day we would like, together with our medical team, to address what risks alcohol consumption during pregnancy poses. Explaining moms-to-be the effects that drinking alcohol can have on the baby is important, so that they avoid alcohol consumption in order not to harm their little one’s health.

As Dr Álex García-Faura, scientific Director at Institut Marquès, points out, “FASD is a severe neurologic syndrome that can lead to morphological alterations of the baby’s face; difficulties in their psychomotor and learning development; low IQ and growth rate deficiency, amongst other adverse consequences”.

From Institut Marquès we would like to remind moms-to-be that alcohol puts at risk their babies’ health. In the light of the most recent scientific research concerning this subject, in particular an article published at the prestigious scientific magazine “The Lancet”, it is concluded that even an alcoholic drink a day is enough to increase the risk of health problems of an individual. Dr Álex García-Faura, scientific Director at Institut Marquès, insists: “We call for a 0 consumption of alcohol, before and during pregnancy”.