Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a set of physical and mental birth defects that can result when a woman drinks alcohol during her pregnancy. When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, such as beer, wine, or mixed drinks, so does her baby. Alcohol passes through the placenta right into the developing baby. The baby may suffer lifelong damage as a result.

FAS is characterized by brain damage, facial deformities, and growth deficits. Heart, liver, and kidney defects also are common, as well as vision and hearing problems. Individuals with FAS have difficulties with learning, attention, memory, and problem solving.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with possible lifelong implications. The term FASD is not intended for use as a clinical diagnosis.

FASD covers other terms such as:

• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - the only diagnosis given by doctors.
• Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) - reserved for individuals with functional or cognitive impairments linked to prenatal alcohol exposure, including decreased head size at birth, structural brain abnormalities, and a pattern of behavioral and mental abnormalities
• Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) - describes the physical defects linked to prenatal alcohol exposure, including heart, skeletal, kidney, ear, and eye malformations
• Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) - a term that has been popularly used to describe alcohol-exposed individuals whose condition does not meet the full criteria for an FAS diagnosis

Fact Sheet on FASD:
http://www.nofas.org/MediaFiles/PDFs/factsheets/everyone.pdf