A 23-year-old woman presents to the OB-GYN office you work at. She was recently

Question

A 23-year-old woman presents to the OB-GYN office you work at. She was recently surprised to learn that she is pregnant. She estimates that she is about 8 weeks along. She tells you that she regularly drinks on the weekends with her friends. She asks you "Is that a problem? As long as I don't drink very much, I can still have a drink occasionally while I'm pregnant, right?"

In your initial post answer the following questions:

How would you answer her questions?

What types of abnormalities can be caused by alcohol, and how does genetics influence this?

Explanation / Answer

Although very less amount of alcohol consumption does not harm the body, but pregnant ladies should altogether avoid it in order to prevent any un-pleasant event. Alcohol is not only known to directly affect the hepatic metabolism, it also has been shown to act as a terminator of pregnancy at high dosage or frequent intakes. Also, some studies have shown that consumption of alcohol in the first trimester of pregnancy is a causative agent of chromosomal abberations in the foetus.

Thus, in order to avoid any such conditions, it is highly advisable to the lady to altogether avoid alcohol consumption at least in the first trimester of her pregnancy.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.