Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a life-long disability. It occurs in many individuals whose mothers drank heavily in pregnancy and is the third largest cause of mental retardation this country. Many drugs of abuse such as heroine and cocaine are also linked to developmental problems in infancy, childhood and possibly later life. Illicit drug use in pregnancy is also associated with poor developmental outcome. Many women are addicted and have great difficulty stopping their drug and alcohol use.
Some women are simply unaware that their drug and alcohol use can hurt their unborn baby.
These problems have no economic or ethnic barriers. All speakers are members of Emory Medical School's Psychiatry Department's Human and Behavior Genetics Laboratory. Arther Falek, Ph.D. Julie Kable, Ph.