Patients with fetal alcohol syndrome typically have multiple handicaps and require special medical, educational, familial and community assistance. Their caretakers need medical information, peer support, financial assistance and respite care.
Many children are alcohol exposed in utero but are placed as normal, healthy infants.
These children may require lifelong, expensive, intensive care and intervention to reach their potential. Alcohol use and abuse affects us all. The potentially negative consequences of alcohol abuse during pregnancy have been suspected since biblical times. The relationship between maternal alcohol abuse during pregnancy and developmental birth defects is well-documented in psychological and medical literature. However, identification of children possibly affected by prenatal alcohol exposure can be carried out by professionals involved in service delivery.