Abstract 138
Background: Maternal smoking and alcohol consumption in pregnancy has a detrimental effect on CNS development. Fetal behaviour reflects CNS integrity providing a means of evaluating CNS functioning. This study investigated spontaneous fetal movements at 18-20 weeks of gestation.
Subjects: 146 fetuses were examined. Fetuses were divided into 4 groups: fetuses exposed to alcohol and cigarettes (n=39); fetuses exposed to alcohol (n=57). A range of movements were recorded.
Results: Fetuses exposed to maternal alcohol and smoking exhibited a deviant pattern of behaviour, p<0.05; and showed significantly more variation in the incidence of behaviours than fetuses of abstainers, p<0.05.
Conclusions: Fetuses exposed to maternal alcohol and smoking during pregnancy exhibit an altered pattern of behaviour compared to fetuses of abstaining mothers indicating neurobehavioural impairment.
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Little, J., Hepper, P. The effects of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption on spontaneous behavior in the human fetus at 18-20 weeks gestational age. Pediatr Res 45, 910 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199906000-00156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199906000-00156