Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 Module 
36 
Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth 
391
pregnant woman (who may not know that she has become pregnant) can have 
a tragic effect (Ikonomidou et al, 2000; Schechter, Finkelstein, & Koren, 2005).
• Alcohol . Alcohol is extremely dangerous to fetal development. For example, 1 out 
of every 750 infants is born with fetal alcohol syndrome ( FAS ), a condition resulting 
in below-average intelligence, growth delays, and facial deformities. FAS is now 
the primary preventable cause of mental retardation. Even mothers who use 
small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy place their child at risk. Fetal alcohol 
effects ( FAE ) is a condition in which children display some although not all of the 
problems of FAS due to their mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy 
(Henderson, Kesmodel, & Gray, 2007; Niccols, 2007; Murthy et al., 2009).
• Nicotine use . Pregnant mothers who smoke put their children at considerable 
risk. Smoking while pregnant can lead to miscarriage and infant death. For 
children who do survive, the negative consequences of mother’s tobacco use can 
last a lifetime (Haslam & Lawrence, 2004; Shea & Steiner, 2008; Rogers, 2009).
Several other environmental factors have an impact on the child before and dur-
ing birth (see Figure 3). Keep in mind, however, that although we have been discuss-
ing the infl uences of genetics and environment separately, neither factor works alone. 
Furthermore, despite the emphasis here on some of the ways in which development 
can go wrong, the vast majority of births occur without diffi culty. And in most 
instances, subsequent development also proceeds normally. 
ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO CONCEPTION 
For most couples, conception is routine, and pregnancy unfolds without incident. In 
other cases, though, conception represents a major challenge. Sometimes infertility, 
the inability to become pregnant, results because the male produces too few sperm.