Alcohol destroys not only the brain. It can also have an equally detrimental effect on reproductive tissues, germ cells, and offspring. Let’s talk more about alcohol and pregnancy.
The effects of alcohol on offspring go in two directions. The first way is alcohol consumption is accompanied by profound changes in the genital area, including atrophy of the reproductive organs.
The second way is its direct effect on the germ cell. When a person is intoxicated, all cells of the body are saturated with ethyl poison, including the germ. Alcohol-damaged germ cells cause the onset of degradation. Even worse, if another (female) cell at the merger is alcoholized, the embryo will then be like an accumulation of degenerative properties, which is particularly difficult to affect the development of the fetus, the fate of the child.
Moreover, women develop alcohol dependence faster than men, and alcohol causes more damage to their bodies. It is very important to cope with alcohol or any other addiction before planning a baby. So if you are discussing with your partner future children and both drink alcohol, better google “women’s rehabs near me” and get not only consultations on alcohol influence but also ways of treatment if needed.
The effect of alcohol on the human reproductive system
Entering the human body, alcohol disrupts the work of all organs and systems. Affected heart and stomach, liver, kidneys and blood vessels, brain. The alcoholic has neurological disorders, decreased physical activity, mental capacity, and impaired reproductive system.
You don’t have to be an alcoholic to lose the ability to conceive and have a healthy baby. The body is affected by systematic excess of the permitted dose:
- For men – 30 ml of ethanol in one dose;
- For women – no more than 20 ml of ethanol in one dose.
That applies not only to the expectant mother but also to the father. Alcohol consumption by a man is one of the risk factors for the health of the unborn child. If a small dose of alcohol does not cause much harm, then an increased portion can significantly reduce the chances of becoming a parent and giving birth to a healthy baby.
The mechanism of alcohol action on the male body
The negative effect of alcohol on the body of a man is due to the ability of ethanol to penetrate into the cells of the body. The consequences of alcohol abuse are its effect on DNA, which leads to a violation of its integrity. The insidiousness of alcoholic beverages in their slow action. The effect of a man, even in small doses, begins to feel only after a while. The specialists of recovery centers for women and men will prevent the irreversibility of processes that adversely affect the reproductive function of men.
Regular consumption of alcohol provokes the production of estrogen, a hormone, the high concentration of which reduces the attraction to the opposite sex and eventually leads to feminization. As a result, there are secondary sexual characteristics – enlarged breasts, and fat deposits in the abdomen and pelvis. Significantly reduces the qualitative and quantitative composition of sperm, which reduces the likelihood of fertilization.
Alcohol consumption: consequences for the female body
Unfortunately, the problem of alcoholism is not limited to the male population. Today, more and more people suffer from this disease. Consumption of alcoholic and low-alcohol products has a detrimental effect on a woman’s body. Among the possible consequences that the specialists of women’s rehab centers will help to cope with are the following problems:
1. Infertility
By abusing alcohol, women may have difficulty conceiving. The reasons for this may be disturbed hormonal background and menstrual irregularities. Compared to women who lead a healthy lifestyle, alcohol lovers are 50 percent more likely to develop complete infertility.
2. Alcohol and pregnancy: The risk of miscarriage increases
Drinking alcohol increases the risk of miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy. Such abortion causes serious complications, including heavy blood loss, high risk to life, and the likelihood of infertility. The dependent mother is more likely to face childbirth, problems, and complications during pregnancy.
3. Complications during childbirth
They can occur in any woman, but the dependent mother’s risk of difficult childbirth increases many times over. Complications can be of various kinds, including endangering the health and life of the baby.
4. Fetal alcohol syndrome is characterized by several disorders
These include disorders of mental and physical development, which lead to congenital defects. The syndrome occurs when alcohol is consumed during pregnancy, as well as if one of the parents suffers from alcoholism.
5. A weakened mother’s immune system
It reduces a woman’s chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby. The risk of contracting viral diseases increases, both during pregnancy and after the birth of a baby. The baby is born with a weakened immune system, which reduces the body’s ability to resist pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The baby, often ill, develops weakly.
In addition to the fact that alcoholism has a negative impact on health, the state of the body of both sexes, being intoxicated, a person is not aware of all the dangers, including incomprehensibility in sexual relations. Diseases of the genital system can be cured, but their effects are irreversible on the reproductive system.
Can a woman drink alcohol during pregnancy?
The short answer is no. There is no safe dose of alcohol at all, especially during pregnancy.
From the first weeks of pregnancy, every glass of wine the mother “shares” with her child is one they will also have to digest together. And every glass of wine or any other alcohol can affect the growth and development of the child, and cause negative consequences now or in the future.
The toxic effects of any alcoholic beverage on the fetus are comparable to a severe hangover in an adult. This is very difficult for the brain of a developing child and always has negative consequences. In addition, alcohol can cause miscarriage or attachment of the embryo in the uterus.
The specialists from rehab for pregnant women warn them not to drink during pregnancy. Why? Here are a lot of reasons:
▪️ The baby’s heart begins to beat at the end of the first month. That is one of the first organs that are formed in the body of the fetus. Alcohol in the first trimester can affect the development of heart cells, and throughout pregnancy increases the risk of vascular malformations and atrial septal defects.
▪️ The nervous system is established in the first two months but is formed throughout pregnancy. Alcohol can cause problems with a child’s learning and memory in the future.
▪️ The fetal liver is formed throughout pregnancy, and the baby in the womb is unable to remove alcohol from its body.
▪️ Alcohol can cause respiratory failure and lead to premature birth.
▪️ During the second trimester, alcohol increases the risk of having a low birth weight baby by 68%.
▪️ Alcohol drunk by the mother slows down the development of the child’s joints, so in the future, there may be problems with movement.
▪️ Due to alcohol consumption, fetal alcohol syndrome can develop. Its main symptoms are a change in facial features (thin upper lip, wide flat nose, small and narrow eye slit), decreased finger length, and poor coordination after birth.
A few last words on alcohol and pregnancy
The woman should tell her doctor if she has been drinking regularly but has stopped when she finds out she is pregnant – and admits to drinking when she was pregnant. The sooner you stop drinking alcohol, the less harm your baby gets.
Also, if a woman is just trying to get pregnant, stop drinking alcohol. You can already be pregnant but not know it yet.
My parents both smoked lots of cigarettes and drank.
Perhaps that is behind the defect that caused me to not be able to have children.
Will you be covering smoking during pregnancy? You may have already, and I just don’t remember.
Hi Resa, it’s tough when we can’t change things that happened before we were even born (or after that day!). I’ve covered marijuana and pregnancy and a bit about smoking and pregnancy in a fertility tips post. There’s so darned much to talk about, isn’t there – I truly don’t know how anyone gets bored in life when there’s so much to think about/learn… xo
It’s written in the book Childhood Disrupted: “[Even] well-meaning and loving parents can unintentionally do harm to a child if they are not well informed about human development” (pg.24).
As just one example, I wonder how many people/parents are aware that since young children completely rely on their parents for protection and sustenance, they will understandably stress over having their parents angry at them for prolonged periods of time? It makes me question the wisdom of punishing children by sending them to their room without dinner.
The health of ALL children needs to be of real importance to us ALL — and not just concern over what other parents’ children might or will cost us as future criminals or costly cases of government care, etcetera — regardless of how well our own developing children are doing. A physically and mentally sound future should be every child’s fundamental right — along with air, water, food and shelter — especially considering the very troubled world into which they never asked to enter.
Thank you for pointing out what children deserve!
But owing to the Only If It’s In My Own Back Yard mindset, the prevailing collective attitude (implicit or subconscious) basically follows: ‘Why should I care — my family/state/country is doing fine?’ or ‘What is in it for me if I care about other people’s/nations’ troubles?’ While some people will justify it as a normal thus moral human evolutionary function, the self-serving OIIIMOBY can debilitate collective human sustenance and progress, even when such sustenance/progress is most needed. And it seems this distinct form of societal penny wisdom but pound foolishness is a very unfortunate human characteristic that’s likely with us to stay.
Meantime, way too many people will still procreate regardless of their questionable ability to raise their children in a psychologically functional/healthy manner.
I sometimes wonder how much immense long-term suffering might have been prevented had the parent(s) of a future tyrant received, as high school students, some crucial child development science education by way of mandatory curriculum. After all, dysfunctional and/or abusive parents, for example, may not have had the chance to be anything else due to their lack of such education and their own dysfunctional/abusive rearing as children.
There really are so many topics that kids could benefit from exposure to, including what is a healthy relationship, speaking up for yourself, signs of mental health issues… I could go on…
Thank you, Christy, for sharing this important information about the effects of alcohol on the developing fetus and baby.
It’s such an important topic, Linnea, that I can’t believe I didn’t cover it sooner. Thank you