Alcohol during pregnancy

A lot of literature data indicates the harmful effects of alcohol on the course of pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.
The reproductive function of women who abuse alcohol is significantly impaired, they more often experience toxicosis of pregnancy, stillbirths, premature births, and paralysis is more often observed in newborns.
With alcohol abuse, toxicosis of pregnancy is detected in 26% of cases; spontaneous abortions - in 29.05%, perinatal death of fetuses - in 12%, miscarriages and premature births - in 22.32%, difficult and pathological births - in 10.5%, birth injuries - in 8%, the birth of premature babies - in 34.5%, children with manifestations of asphyxia - in 12.5%, weakened children - in 19% of cases.
Pathology of pregnancy due to alcohol abuse was detected in 46.5%, and pathology of childbirth - in 53.5% of cases.
When studying the course of pregnancy in 100 women with chronic alcoholism, researchers found that the duration of pregnancy in them fluctuated between 34-41 weeks. The obstetric history was, as a rule, burdened (premature birth, spontaneous abortions). The researchers emphasize that the presence of chronic alcoholism in the mother should be considered as an indication for sterilization or termination of pregnancy at an early stage, and identified pathology of pregnancy and childbirth in 14.03% of patients with alcoholism.
65 women with alcoholism were examined, who had 318 pregnancies, of which 189 (59.6%) ended in artificial abortions, 38 (12%) - in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. Among the live births, 39.2% were healthy; 60.8% had various psychoneurological disorders.
Chronic alcoholism of the father of the future child is also of great importance in the development of pathology of pregnancy and childbirth. According to a number of scientists, spontaneous abortions and various deformities in children are not uncommon in these cases. In a study of 103 families, in which fathers suffered from alcoholism in 101 cases, difficult, prolonged labor was noted in 44.8% of cases, often with the use of forceps; 23.9% of children were born in a state of severe asphyxia, and fetal death was observed in 10% of cases.

When both parents consume alcohol, cases of spontaneous abortions, premature births, and pathological pregnancy and childbirth become more frequent.
The histories of 1,000 pregnancies in 659 families of alcoholics were studied. According to these data, toxicosis of pregnancy was observed in 27.9% of cases, spontaneous abortions in 21.9%, premature births in 31.1%, and stillbirths in 15%.
A comparative study of the effect of chronic alcoholism in the mother and father on the offspring found that with maternal alcoholism, premature births were observed in 31% of cases, growth retardation in 86%, and hypotrophy in 66%; with paternal alcoholism, these figures were much lower - 17, 45, and 35%, respectively.
With alcohol intoxication in the mother, premature births were observed in 22% of cases, and with alcoholism in the father - in 7%. In both cases, complicated births were often observed (in 14%) and the birth of children in asphyxia (in 22% of cases).

Alcohol during pregnancy (effect on the genetic apparatus):

A number of authors have come to the conclusion that alcohol affects the genetic apparatus of the cell. In particular, when examining 174 patients with chronic alcoholism, biological inferiority of the eggs was discovered, and 26 children born to them had congenital facial deformities.
Having studied the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes in 10 patients
with chronic alcoholism, it was established that the number of cells with structural abnormalities in them was 23.2% (in the control - 1.6%), the number of aneuploid cells and cells with gaps was increased.
They also observed in embryoschanges in the number of chromosomes in the cells of the offspring during hematogenesis, and in individual cells, structural aberrations of the chromosomes.
The scientists examined 18 men and 9 women of childbearing age with chronic alcoholism. In the culture of peripheral blood lymphocytes, 3.15% of cells with chromosomal aberrations (deletions, translocations, the appearance of ring chromosomes) were found. A higher frequency of chromosomal abnormalities was noted in the lymphocytes of drinkers than in the control. A greater number of aberrant chromosomes were also found in the lymphocytes of the peripheral blood of patients with alcoholism.

Alcohol during pregnancy (experiment):

In an experiment on golden hamsters, which were given 1-2 months of about 1 ml of 30% ethyl alcohol was administered at intervals of 1-2 days, showed that alcohol significantly reduces the number of eggs entering the tubes. At the same time, the number of fertilized eggs decreases, polyspermy is more pronounced. Polyspermic eggs and the embryos that develop from them usually die. But sometimes further development of the embryo occurs due to the elimination of one of the additional pronuclei or individual chromosomes. In this case, chromosomal combinations of 2n + 1 or others characteristic of chromosomal diseases may occur.
A number of characteristic changes were revealed after the administration of single doses of alcohol to female golden hamsters during estrus before mating. In these cases, dying eggs and zygotes were also detected, polyspermy was expressed. This emphasizes the special significance of the effect of alcohol administered during ovulation.

Alcohol during pregnancy (analysis):

Women who drank alcohol before pregnancy have the following disorders:
•        menstrual cycle disorders (for example: arrhythmic periods);
•        higher incidence of spontaneous abortions;
•        higher incidence of early and late toxicosis;
•        early rupture of amniotic fluid;
•        prolonged labor;
•        surgical delivery methods are used more often;
•        high risk of blood loss during childbirth;
•        low birth weight;
•        fetal alcohol syndrome;
•        further lag in the child in both mental and physical development.

Thus, we can conclude that women who drank alcohol before and throughout the pregnancy, as well as on the expected day of conception, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are more often observed, both the fetus and the newborn suffer significantly, and complications in the postpartum period are also reliably more often observed.
Due to the above, all these women, starting from the first visit to the consultation, should be classified as a high-risk group for the development of pathology during childbirth and in the postpartum period. In addition to completely eliminating alcohol intake, they are shown antenatal prophylaxis in order to prevent intrauterine fetal hypoxia, weakness of labor, bleeding in the afterbirth and early postpartum periods, as well as postpartum morbidity.

By the way, scientists have proven that alcohol consumption during pregnancy can become one of the main causes of congenital mental retardation and malformations of the child, which are called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) .