By Rich Bockmann
On the ninth minute of the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month, the Douglaston Community, Zion Episcopal and Little Neck Community churches will ring their bells to raise awareness about the babies born throughout the world with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
International FASD Awareness Day is held Sept. 9 to remind the world that women should abstain from alcohol during the nine months of pregnancy.
Susan Rose, president of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Support Network of New York City and Long Island, said the demographics of those who are at the highest risk of giving birth to children with the disorder have changed from just undereducated mothers in poverty to include those whom Rose sees every day in her neighborhood.
“Women who are at most risk are white, in their 20s, college-educated and earn over $50,000 a year — you’re talking about Douglaston right there!” she said.
“Fifty percent of women don’t know they’re pregnant during the first six weeks — my God!” Rose said, adding that a culture of binge drinking in college and beyond has led to a point where 40,000 babies are born in the country each year with the disorder.
A number of factors determine how a fetus is affected by a mother’s alcohol consumption — including her weight, pre-genetic disposition and the number of children she has had.
“The risk of FASD goes up with each child if she drinks during pregnancy,” Rose said.
“I was watching a young woman at brunch the other day drinking mimosas, and she was on her fourth,” she recalled. “We don’t say anything because we know these people.”
FASD is an umbrella term used to describe a number of birth defects caused by mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy, which can result in damage to a child’s central nervous system.
About 10 percent of these children, said Rose, are affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which manifests itself in abnormal facial features — closer-set eyes, thin upper lips and a smooth or indistinct philtrum (the groove between the nose and upper lip).
Those children affected by FASD but not FAS are often misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder because the symptoms are similar, and this leads to the misconception that FASD is a smaller problem than it actually is, Rose said.
“The other 90 percent have absolutely no physical thing — no physical facial characteristics you would look at and say there’s something wrong with this person,” she said. “Children with FASD are functionally retarded. They have a higher IQ [than those with FAS], but they still can’t make it through life without significant intervention.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
