Fetal alcohol syndrome fas and fetal alcohol effects fae are a conditions associated with drinking alcohol during pregnancy fas causes a variety of mental physical and developmental disabilities in the baby fae is a milder form of fas. Fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects importance of early diagnosis and nutritional treatment alcohol has teratogenic effects on the foetus that affect craneal size and psychomotor development alcohol also affects pre and post natal growth. Fetal alcohol syndrome fas is a set of identifiable birth defects caused by the use of alcohol during pregnancy studies indicate that fas may occur in as many as one or two every 1000 live births fas is characterized by a cluster of congenital birth defects that include the following prenatal and postnatal growth deficiency. These fall under the term fetal alcohol spectrum disorders fasd the most known of which is fetal alcohol syndrome fas and fetal alcohol effects fae fetal alcohol effects can also be separated into two different categories alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder arnd and alcohol related birth defects arbd what is fetal alcohol syndrome fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the most common causes of mental retardation and is the only one that is 100 preventable