Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (92nd, Boston, 1968).

Presents special considerations in counseling fetal alcohol syndrome children and their mothers. Preventive counseling must begin before conception. Adequate education, counseling, testing, treatment, and followup of patients and their families is essential to reduce or eliminate problems associated with maternal alcohol abuse. (JAC)

The review examines the literature on the behaviorally teratogenic aspects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, including: (1) prevalence of alcohol abuse among women, (2) acute and chronic effects of alcohol on the fetus, (3) genetic susceptibility, (4) neuropathology, (5) correlative conditions, and (6) animal studies. (Author/DB)

Presents documentation of behavioral contributions to fetal and infant damage, disease, and death. Suggestions are made for interventive strategies for social workers to use at the policy, program, and case levels to help improve the outcome of pregnancy. A review of the literature is also included. (Author/JAC)

Educators have begun to recognize that the public school system is an ideal setting in which to introduce the topic of birth defects prevention. A highly structured two week curriculum was developed using March of Dimes materials to teach inner-city school children about birth defects prevention. (JN)

Among the ethical problems in screening for severe spina bifida in a fetus are deciding who should be screened; whether the procedure, which has medical risks, is justified; and how to deal with the only known solution--abortion. Journal availability: see EC 114 865. (PHR)

This paper explores incidence rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and describes physical and cognitive impairments exhibited by FAS children. It examines program strategies for prevention of FAS in the United States and reviews research undertaken at the Edinburgh University Medical School, Scotland, concerning alcohol effects on the ovum before…

Cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of congenital virally induced hearing loss. Maternal infection is most often asymptomatic as is the infection in the newborn. Hearing loss occurs in both clinically apparent infection and in the asymptomatic infection. Current methods of detection, treatment, and prevention and research efforts are…

Exposure to alcohol in utero is considered to be the leading cause of developmental disabilities of known etiology. The most severe consequence of such exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is characterized by a distinct constellation of characteristic facial anomalies, growth retardation, and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Some…

Six papers from a 1978 conference on birth defects focus on prevention. G. Stickle ("The Health of America's Babies: How Do We Stack Up?'" reviews risk in pregnancy, cites inadequate prenatal care and maternal nutrition, and discusses examples of how the United States is not applying its knowledge of how to improve pregnancy outcome. In "Genetic…

Fetal alcohol syndrome is a pattern of altered growth and morphogenesis found in about half the offspring of severely and chronically alcoholic women who continue drinking throughout their pregnancy. Of children studied, mild to moderate mental retardation was the most common disorder, occurring in 44 percent of the cases. (PHR)

The value of genetic counseling for prospective parents with visual impairments is discussed. Work in genetic counseling is reviewed and the types of monitoring services available are explored. The development of genetics, and the kinds of genetic disorders, as well as the importance of genetic counseling, are described. (PHR)

Perinatal histories of 50 learning-disabled children (ages 7 to 12) with minimum neurological dysfunctions were evaluated (using a normative population for comparison) to discover if any relationship existed between pregnancy and birth complications and the development of learning disabilities. The experimental group had had a significantly higher…

A longitudinal study is evaluating the efficacy of a phenylalanine-restricted diet in reducing disabling conditions associated with maternal hyperphenylalaninemia. Titled the Maternal PKU Collaborative Study, it is studying 162 American and Canadian women and involves diet therapy, prenatal examinations, laboratory tests, nutritional evaluation,…