Minnesota Brain Damage Lawyers

Minnesota Children with Special Health Needs

The most common cause of brain damage before birth (called congenital neurological deficits) is alcohol intake by the mother during pregnancy. Alcohol intake during pregnancy causes a wide range of damage to an unborn child and results in many different disorders (called fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). The degree of damage varies according to the amount of alcohol consumed and the particular time of pregnancy that the alcohol is consumed. Other factors such as maternal nutrition also contribute to the variation in the effects on the baby. A pattern of binge drinking is considered the most damaging (large amounts of alcohol consumed rapidly). In the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol interferes with the organization of brain cells. Weeks 3-8 of fetal development are considered to be an especially critical period for brain damage from alcohol exposure. Exposure to heavy drinking between the 10th and 20th week is most likely to cause the physical features (often known as fetal alcohol syndrome). In the third trimester the baby's hippocampus is most affected, leading to learning problems such as difficulties with reading and math.

Mild damage is described as fetal alcohol effect (FAE). There is a continuum of effects of alcohol exposure, and the new term for this range of conditions is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Mild damage will include decreased intellectual function, visual problems, and high pain tolerance. Most children will be shorter and lighter than average for their ages.

About 85% of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder have characteristic facial features (wide-set eyes, thin upper lip, flat nasal philtrum, small head size called microcephaly). The degree of facial involvement does not correlate with the degree of brain dysfunction for the child, making the hidden effects of alcohol exposure the most damaging to the child, long-term.

Other children do not have characteristic facial features but have significant brain damage affecting their intellectual function and judgment (termed fetal alcohol effect). Some researchers divide the physical features of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder into three categories: 1) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) where children have all the facial characteristics of prenatal alcohol exposure; 2) Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS) with only partial facial characteristics; and, 3) Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) with little facial deformity. Regardless of the terminology, fetal exposure to alcohol has a very serious effect on the developing brain, and its effects continue throughout life.

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