What is fetal alcohol syndrome?
The term fetal alcohol syndrome was first named in 1973 by Kenneth Lyons Jones and David Weyhe Smith. They discovered patterns in growth abnormalities in children and that it was due to prenatal damage. Even though the term was not named until 1973 that does not mean that it was not considered for years before. Just a few years before Dr. Paul Lemoine of Nantes was conducting a study that showed the correlation between alcoholic mothers and malformations in their children. Before even this study people were aware of the fact that drinking alcohol affects a baby in some way. Fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS is defined as a disorder that results from exposure to alcohol during pregnancy. It is usually associated with growth, physical, and mental problems throughout a child's life.