I have always been fascinated by babies. I always care for babies because i have helped my mother raise my sister since she was a baby. I am always thankful that my mother took really good care of us and did not do anything to harm me or my sister during her pregnancy stage.
When we had the lecture on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome it really stuck to me. I always ask myself why couldn't the mother of the child with the syndrome be more careful and not put their child at risk. I have not met anyone with this syndrome and i am thankful that my family have never put their child at this kind of risk.
I know from 5 years from now i will always have this in mind wether i will become a father or an uncle or so. When i will here the word baby or anything related this (FAS) will quickly come to my mind and i will basically take precautions to help the mother avoid any sort of drink during her pregnancy stage if possible.
Babies in general have really grabbed my attention, the way they focus seems very interesting to me. When i have a child of my own someday i will know ways on how to deal with his attitude or so.
I love babies too, and it makes me very sad when I hear about women abusing drugs or alcohol while carrying a child. I have always wondered to myself, though, what would happen if the mother didn't know she was pregnant? I know it seems very naiive to say, but how could a mother ever forgive herself for simply not realizing she was pregnant and possibly harming her baby? That is just so sad to me and it has taught me that when I decide to have kids, to be ESPECIALLY aware of my body and what I am putting in it!
This is probably one of the best concepts that you will remember from this course, because the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can cause serious damage to a child if it does not kill the child at birth. It sounds like you have a very clear mind set that you are going to do everything you can do to make sure that everyone close to you takes care of themselves while they are pregnant so they do not have to deal with any of these horrid effects!
I've always found FAS sort of baffling. Whether the child was wanted or not, I can't believe a mother would continue to drink throughout pregnancy, as she always has other options.
This is definitely a lecture that tugged at the heart strings. But what most amazed me about FAS was that we weren't aware of the effects of alcohol on pregnancy until relatively recently in medical history. This goes hand in hand with smoking, which doctors would actually prescribe to women to help them lose weight. It's incredible how far medicinal practices have come!