To make a rock-solid diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome, the above three signs must be present, as well as confirmed alcohol exposure. Yes, besides fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome, unconfirmed, the Institute of Medicine has delineated three other types of fetal damage by alcohol lesser combinations of the fetal alcohol syndrome symptoms. These lesser disorders used to be called fetal alcohol effect a term that was too nebulous and ill-defined to be of much use. In these, the infant will have fewer fetal alcohol syndrome signs but will have other congenital defects or neurodevelopmental disorders and a history of prenatal alcohol exposure. There are a number of factors that help determine the severity of the syndrome.
Timing is one.
It's obvious that if you ingest alcohol during the embryologic phase when the kidneys or heart or brain is being formed, the alcohol will be more toxic to those systems. Later in the pregnancy, alcohol will mainly affect the child's growth, maturation and behavior. We highly recommend that any woman who wants to get pregnant stop drinking before she begins trying to conceive. But let me hasten to say that stopping drinking at any point can only help at no time is it too late for a woman to stop. Another factor that determines the severity of the syndrome is the type of drinking done by the mother.