Infants with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) symptoms tend to have psychological or physiological deviations. Sometimes over time, cognitive impairments become apparent. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is diagnosed in newborns of women who consumed alcohol while being pregnant upon the presence of special symptoms. It is often difficult to understand how healthcare workers treat such cases. It is assumed that their personal experiences and perspectives influence attitudes and professional behavior.
Most women know that alcohol during pregnancy is harmful, but not everyone fully understands the meaning of these words. In this regard, many women continue to use it during gestation only by reducing the amount or even leaving it the same (Bagley & Badry, 2019). Frequent consumption of alcohol in large doses leads to severe health problems for the child. However, even consumption of alcohol in small doses leads to behavioral and cognitive problems in children.
Health care professionals have varied experiences with alcohol and the problem of alcoholism. In this regard, some of them form a separate approach to patients with a corresponding problem. The experience of friends, relatives, and other representatives of the person’s environment also has an effect. An example is a professional who does not talk to his client about an alcohol problem even though he suspects it (Bagley & Badry, 2019). However, this topic is not raised by a specialist in connection with self-use. Thus, the presence of a problem in two people at once is ignored, although the medical professional should prioritize objectivity, rationality, and the health of the patient.
Due to the availability of alcohol, it is one of the most common and damaging addictions in populations around the world. The underestimation of the problem of alcohol dependence is also important. The use of other drugs and substances, both legal and illegal, is seen as a much more serious problem. At the same time, smoking weed is sometimes viewed with a much heightened sense of inappropriate behavior (Bagley & Badry, 2019). However, it is not confirmed that smoking weed brings more damage to health, if not taking into account the specifics and amount of consumption of a particular type of weed or alcohol.
While medicine and science are advancing and more awareness of the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is being made, the culture of alcohol and other substances continues to be popularized as a freedom of choice. Sometimes the awareness of the consequences is insufficient to change a person’s approach to use. In this regard, children who are born suffer throughout their lives since there is no single method of combating FASD. At the same time, in some countries, such as New Zealand, employees themselves are not actively supporting the development of awareness of the problem in connection with the normalization of consumption in society (Bagley & Badry, 2019). This shows the globality of the concealment of the problem.
In conclusion, there are many new or emerging health problems in modern society. Some of them are ignored by the community due to a different set of priorities. However, FASD does not affect the alcohol user during pregnancy but the baby after birth. Therefore, the innocent person suffers, while the pregnant woman and, in some cases, doctors tried not to bring up the topic of alcohol consumption during pregnancy for personal reasons. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is an important problem that needs to be educated in society.
Reference
Bagley, K., & Badry, D. (2019). How personal perspectives shape health professionals’ perceptions of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and risk. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(11), 1936. Web.