Fetal alcohol disorders range from mild intellectual and behavioral problems to extreme disorders that lead to profound disabilities or premature death.
FAS are not heredity: they are 100 percent preventable the sole cause is prenatal alcohol exposure.
Of the children heavily exposed to alcohol before birth, about 40 percent are estimated to exhibit fetal alcohol disorders, with 4 percent affected by full blown fetal alcohol syndrome.
Women who give birth to a child with FAS are 800 times more likely to give birth to subsequent children with the syndrome than are women who have never given birth to a child with the syndrome.
Each year, there are four times as many infants born with fetal alcohol disorders as there are infants born with muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and Down syndrome combined.
15 out of 100 women of childbearing age do not know that drinking alcohol during pregnancy is dangerous.
FASD affects about 40,000 newborns each year
A survey of pediatrician reported in the journal Pediatrics revealed that only 13 percent routinely discussed the risk of drinking during pregnancy with their adolescent patients.
According to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, 1 in 9 pregnant women binge drink during the first trimester.
FASD are 100% incurable
60% of individuals with FASD find themselves in legal trouble at some point in their lives.
There is a high prevalence of epilepsy (5.9%) in individuals with FASD compared with individuals who did not have the disorder.
94% of individuals heavily exposed to alcohol in the womb are diagnosed with ADHD
It is estimated a lifetime cost for one individual with FASD is 2 million
50% of adults with FASD were clinically depressed
SEPTEMBER IS FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDER AWARENESS MONTH
