Alcohol and tobacco consumption is associated with ethnocultural elements suggesting social and culturally related risk factors, such as lower education level, prenatal exposure to cocaine, smoking, lower socioeconomic status and substance use (Chudley, Conry and Cook et al. , 2005). Based on the study of P Pirie, Lando and Curry et al. (2000), socioeconomic factors, cultural origin and norms present in society greatly influence the mother’s usage of alcohol and tobacco substances. From the interviewed samples from Seattle and Minneapolis, results reveal the general multivariate nature of usage among 67% of samples.
As supported by Lorente, Cordier and Goujard et al. (2001), alcohol usage is most of the time partnered with smoking habits according to the pregnant women who participated in their study. Tobacco and alcohol usage has been found more common on pregnant mothers with low educational attainment, poor socioeconomic status and living within a tolerating environment. II. Conclusion Teratogenic effects of during pregnancy may vary depending of the severity of substance/s usage, classification used, stage of pregnancy covered (16th week of gestation onwards), and ethnocultural orientations.
Teratogenic substances are able to afflict fetal damage upon entering maternal-fetal circulation. Tobacco and alcohol consumption allows the absorption of teratogenic substances, such as ethanol, nicotine and nitrosamines, capable of causing unfavorable birth defects and abnormalities, such as mental retardation, stunted growth, low birth weight, activity impairments, facial abnormalities, and other symptoms. The severity of birth abnormalities among fetuses greatly depends in the maternal consumption of alcohol and tobacco.
References
Chudley, A. E. , Conry, J., & Cook et al. , J. L. (2005, March). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Canadian guidelines for diagnosis . Canadian Medical Association Journal, 172, s1-s21. Cornelius, M. D. , & Day, N. L. (2000, May). The Effects of Tobacco Use During and After Pregnancy on Exposed Children: Relevance of Findings for Alcohol Research. Alcohol Research & Health Journal, 24, 242-249. England, L. J. , Kendrick, J. , & Gargiullo et al. , P. M. (2001, May). Measures of Maternal Tobacco Exposure and Infant Birth Weight at Term. American Journal of Epidemiology, 153, 954-960.