The fact that alcohol consumption is never safe during pregnancy is no longer news. But studies have shown alcohol or drug use by both parents, particularly fathers, even during pregnancy can increase the risk of their offspring developing an intellectual disability.

In fact, a recent study by experts said that the recommendation against alcohol or drug use disorder is actually for a couple who plans to become pregnant; as such, preventive interventions should target both parents, especially males who may have different kinds of substance use disorders.

Karolinska Institutet research found that substance misuse in any form, in both the mother and the father, and not just during pregnancy, can be a risk factor in a study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are characterised by recurrent use of alcohol or drugs (or both) that results in problems such as being unable to control the use of the substance; failing to meet obligations at work, home, or school; having poor health; and spending an increased amount of time getting, using, or recovering from the effects of using the substance.

The study’s data came from registries in Sweden, which included information on over two million parents and children born between 1978 and 2002. It demonstrated that all forms of substance abuse, not just pregnancy, can pose a risk factor.

Researchers discovered that whilst 3 percent of babies born to parents with a diagnosis related to a substance use problem (alcohol or drug misuse) had an intellectual handicap, only 1.2 percent of newborns born to parents without such a disorder had a diagnosis.

The increased risk was greater if the parent had received a diagnosis before or during pregnancy rather than after birth.

Regardless of which parent had the diagnosis, a substance use disorder diagnosis made prior to delivery was linked to a baby’s chance of intellectual disability being more than twice as high.

After controlling for socioeconomic variables and additional psychiatric conditions in the parents, the correlation remained statistically significant but was less strong.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, men drink more, are more likely to binge drink, and are almost four times more likely to develop alcohol use disorder than women.

According to reports, there was a five- to three-fold increased risk of intellectual disability in cases of alcohol-related difficulties during pregnancy, depending on whether the father or the mother had been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder.

Pregnancy-related alcohol and tobacco use are hazardous habits that have numerous negative impacts, including low birth weight, preterm birth, and tiny-for-age births.

Professor Adebola Orimadegun, a consultant paediatrician at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, in a comment, declared that both genetic and environmental factors, including harmful effects of substance abuse on an unborn baby’s development, may play a part.

He says, “the commonest occur while the child is still inside the womb. What goes into the mother’s body eventually gets to the unborn baby, especially when the exposure happens in the first 3 months of life.

“More significantly, during the initial eight weeks when the organs are still forming. Any kind of deformity could be the reason for their impairment. Scientific studies are replete with evidence supporting this.

“Drug-abusing parents will undoubtedly experience mental health issues as well. Additionally, caring for or attending to newborns will suffer, both of which are crucial to the child’s development.

“More importantly, in the first eight weeks when the organs have just been formed, there can be malformation of any sort, causing them to have a disability. Evidence abounds in scientific studies concerning that.

“There is no doubt that drug-abusing parents will have some mental health issues as well. Additionally, caring for or attending to infants will suffer as well, all of which lead to the development of the child. This can invariably affect the child’s ability to learn.

“Once more, abused drugs have the ability to enter the air, exposing children to the drug abuse through passive inhalation from their parents. Because their organs have not fully developed, children are more susceptible to the harmful effects of poisonous substances or poisoning than adults before maturation occurs.

“Ortogenetic causes—exposed to outside substances—as well as genetic components contribute to intellectual impairment. There is a social component to it as well. A home cannot be stable when one of the parents abuses drugs. The child will find learning difficult, and the family setting might not be the best place for them to study.”

According to research, children who grow up in homes where their parents abuse drugs are more likely to experience internalising symptoms like worry or despair as well as externalising signs like hyperactivity.

These children can also be at greater risk for injury or infectious diseases. Moreover, an extensive collection of data indicates that substance use by parents is linked to their adolescent children’s substance usage.

Children who witnessed their parents drinking regularly were more likely to experience behavioural issues; this result was consistent with findings from other studies on alcohol and drug use. Also, parental alcohol use was associated with early departure from school and a threefold increased risk of suspensions. (Tribune)