Teratogenic Development

INTRODUCTION

In Prenatal exposure to alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and aspirin: Effects on fine and gross motor performance in 4-year-old children, 449 exposed children were studied. The purpose of this study was to measure the teratogenic effects alcohol, tobacco, aspirin and caffeine exposure have on the motor skills in four year olds. It studies four of the most commonly used and abused substances among pregnant women, mainly focusing on alcohol (Barr, Streissguth, Darby, & Sampson, 1990). This study does conclude that the embryonic stage of pregnancy is the time when the development is extremely susceptible to harm (Barr et al., 1990).

DISCUSSION

There are extensive side effects from alcohol exposure on a child; the worst case being the

I am sure that I am not the only one who did not know about its affects on a fetus. Like we have said in class, education is key when it comes to preventing harm to an infant. As I was working on this paper and looking for articles, I was a little disappointed because most of the articles I found just talked about the dangers of alcohol. When I found this article I was excited because I wanted to learn more about other teratogens as well. Even though they might not cause as much harm, they are still capable of doing damage, especially in larger amounts. This article was a little hard to follow, and it took some interpreting to figure it out. It was helpful to have already learned quite a bit about the central nervous system and brain development during the first few years of life. This article talked mainly about fine and gross motor skills, which we went over in class. All in all this was a very informative article that talks about a couple teratogens that we did not discuss much in class, so I did learn a few things about their

If at-risk women were properly educated, most cases of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome could be prevented. Psychologists' knowledge and attitudes about fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and alcohol use during pregnancy shows just how much education is needed, not only among at-risk women, but healthcare professionals as well. With a response rate of about 31%, it is not the best example; however, it does shed some insight on the issues and lack of education (Wedding, Kohout, Mengel, Ohlemiller, Ulione, Cook, & Braddock). This article focuses on psychologists and their knowledge of effects of alcohol exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome and questions whether or not they can recognize the symptoms (Wedding et al., 2007). It points out that education is key in not only recognizing, but also preventing alcohol exposure to a fetus (Wedding et al.,