Issues Related to Prenatal Development and Infancy (Essay Sample)

Issues Related to Prenatal Development and Infancy
Most prenatal development and infancy befall normally, based on the established conventions with little disparity. Nevertheless, some developmental issues are likely to arise during these stages, primarily because of genetic or environmental factors. Maternal drinking during gestation causes a bulk of physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional issues, including fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). This syndrome is associated with unique facial abnormalities, such as palpebral fissures, thin upper lip, flat mid-face, and a smooth or level indentation between the upper lip and nose, particularly in infants whose mothers engaged in very heavy drinking during pregnancy. Streissguth (1997) notes that the growth of infants with FAS is often restarted, besides exhibiting major cognitive and/or behavioral issues.
Based on their IQ scores, infants with FAS exhibit poorer socio-emotional development in terms of social, emotional, moral, and personality development. Socio-emotional issues become more remarkable as infants grow older, especially in relation to interpersonal skills, social judgment, and antisocial demeanor. Another issue reported during infancy is memory deficits, especially in children delivered by heavily drinking mothers. Research findings have associated high prenatal alcohol exposure with slow, less effective information processing between the ages of six-and-half and 12 months, particularly regarding encoding information into short–term memory.
Alcohol exposure during prenatal development leads to heightened chances and levels of petulance during infancy. This in turn influences poorer maternal attachment and socio-emotional issues later in childhood. During infancy, attachment issues, such as reactive attachment disorder come about when infants have not had a consistent chance to connect with their parents or main caregivers. The infant may feel neglected or devise an unpleasant means or behavior to get i...