Part 1 of Essay
Prenatal alcohol exposure is a preventable cause of birth defects, including mental retardation and neurodevelopmental deficits. Since the initial recognition in 1968 of the multiple effects that alcohol can have on the developing fetus [1] and the subsequent delineation in 1973 of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), [2] it has ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... the absence of growth retardation or congenital abnormalities, children born to women who drank alcohol excessively during pregnancy appear to be at increased risk for attention deficit disorders with hyperactivity, fine-motor impairment, and clumsiness as well as more subtle delays in motor performance and speech disorders. [4] These findings have been referred to as fetal alcohol effects (FAE). As recently described, FAS and FAE produce profound cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial problems that persist to da ....