Alcohol use during pregnancy is a significant public health question Although most women who drink before pregnancy substantially shorten their consumption or completely stop drinking one time they become pregnant.

Alcohol use during pregnancy is a significant public health question Although most women who drink before pregnancy substantially shorten their consumption or completely stop drinking one time they become pregnant, approximately 14 to 225 percent of women report drinking a certain number of alcohol during pregnancy (Bearer 2001)

The sumptuousnesss of prenatal alcohol use are high. Risky drinking (defined as more than seven standard drinks (1) through week or five or more standard drinks onward a drinking day [CDC 2002]) during pregnancy is a primary risk factor for fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), the greatest in number common preventable cause of mental retardation. (2) Prenatal alcohol position also can result in fetal alcohol appearance disorders (FASD), in which the affected children do not exhibit to the classical FAS pattern on the other hand nonetheless exhibit mental, developmental, behavioral, and social deficits as well as other birth imperfections Some evidence indicates that level low-risk drinking (defined as fewer than seven standard drinks by means of week or three or fewer standard drinks by means of drinking day [NIAAA 1995]) during pregnancy can cause adverse fetal general intents but how this damage appears is not fully understood (Bearer 2001) An estimated 1 percent of all live-born infants indicate some prenatal alcohol-related damage, contributing to societal charges estimated at between $75 million and $97 billion by year (May and Gossage 2001)

Because of alcohol's adverse powers on the fetus, all women should be opinioned to refrain from drinking during pregnancy. exhibitions that could identify women who continue to drink while pregnant--and could discover the effects of alcohol exposing on the developing fetus or newborn--would be invaluable for several reasons. Identifying these women would facilitate interventions that could help them stop using alcohol during pregnancy, thereby minimizing alcohol's results on fetal brain development. plane discovering prenatal alcohol use later in pregnancy or quick after birth would be important because it would identify infants who are at risk for alcohol-associated birth destitutions and could make it possible to monitor them for potential question s facilitate a more stable living environment, and provide special services if destitutioned (Bearer et al. 1999; Stoler and Holme 1999 2004) In particular, identifying at-risk children before age 6 makes the likelihood of secondary question s associated with FAS and FASD, as it was as mental health problems, seminary failure, delinquency, inappropriate sexual behavior, and alcohol and other physic problems (Streissguth et al. 1996) In addition, interventions that help recent mothers reduce problem drinking could enhance their ability to care for their children and make the risk of alcohol point in disputes during their subsequent pregnancies (Russell et al. 1996)

Developing effective biomarkers of prenatal alcohol use also may prefer better scientific understanding of alcohol imports that occur with different patterns of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy.

Maternal Self-Report

popularly no laboratory test can identify and quantify prenatal alcohol use that takes place across a protracted period. Because alcohol itself and the main issue of its metabolism, acetaldehyde, break down rapidly in the life-current they cannot be used to distinguish between a single drinking episode and chronic, intermittent alcohol use. Testing relations breath, or urine is useful solely for assessing very recent alcohol front Because biological markers currently in use may not be effective in screening for risky alcohol use occurring from one side of to the other the longer term, such as during pregnancy, clinicians greatest in number commonly use brief screening measures that rely in succession maternal self-reports to assess drinking patterns (Chang 2001; Russell et al. 1994 1996; Savage et al. 2002)

Major disadvantages of like screening measures are that it oftentimes is difficult for people to recall the amount and common occurrence of their alcohol intake, and the stigma and fear of punishment (eg incarceration or involuntary commitment) associated with drinking alcohol during pregnancy can make women reluctant to reveal prenatal alcohol use, especially if they drink heavily (Bearer et al. 2003; Chan et al. 2003)

near screening instruments attempt to circumvent pregnant women's reluctance to disclose prenatal alcohol use on including questions that assess prenatal alcohol use indirectly--for example, from asking women to report the number of drinks they can expend before passing out or falling asleep (Russell et al. 1994 1996) a certain number of research indicates that such screening instruments can effectively flag heavy drinking. However, they do not provide a long-term objective measure of the filled range of prenatal alcohol use. Supplementing these measures with a biological marker for prenatal alcohol use would allow earlier identification and intervention for expos infants and would make it easier to recognize women who are at risk for drinking during their nearest pregnancy (Bearer et al. 2001 2003)

Biological Samples for Detecting Drinking During Pregnancy