Teratogens Affecting Mothers

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Teratogens and Physical Implications Affecting Mothers Teratogens can have a negative effect on anybody that uses them, but they can be especially harmful to mothers that use teratogens during pregnancy. Every woman has a 3-5% risk of having a baby with a birth defect by using teratogens they can only increase this risk (Gilbert, Tait). Teratogens affect mothers and their developing embryo in many different ways. The stage that teratogens are used during pregnancy can have the biggest affect, as certain stages of pregnancy have higher risks of birth defects when mothers use teratogens. Medicines, diseases, and viruses, not the drugs everyone would think of, are also harmful teratogens. Teratogens are any environmental substance that causes …show more content…
“25 percent of U.S. mothers report drinking at some time during their pregnancies (Berk).” One of the main birth defects that comes from using alcohol while pregnant, fetal alcohol syndrome, can cause many different problems. FAS can cause slow physical growth, facial abnormalities, and brain injury, which can affect your language, memory, communication, and more. Babies can be born with hyperactivity disorder because they do not receive the proper nutrients from the mother. There are different stages of FAS and how much alcohol the mother consumes during pregnancy, plays the largest role. Alcohol interferes with neuron production in the brain and leads to reduced brain size, damaged brain structure, and irregular brain functioning. No amount of alcohol is safe for a mother during pregnancy, as less than one drink per day can cause birth defects. Many women that drink during pregnancy gain less weight than they should because they drink more and eat less, which results in less nutrients being delivered to the fetus. One of the worst things that comes from alcohol use is the increased risk of a miscarriage or premature birth. Excessive drinking can make the mother tired and weak, and it can cause the mother to be too weak to get through
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