Alcohol Abuse Advice

Children With ADHD – Minimizing the Risks When You Are Pregnant

Many pregnant mothers who already have a history of ADHD in their family are worried about the chances of giving birth to another child who might develop this disorder. As children with ADHD may have developmental, behavioral and learning problems, families want to take all the possible precautions they can.

We do not really know the cause of ADHD but we know that there are definite biological, neurological and environmental links. So there are a lot of things we can still do to minimize the risk.

I know one mother who had to bring up three children with ADHD on her own after a divorce. She managed to do that so we should not be too discouraged if we have a child with ADHD in our own family.

We know that there is a definite genetic link but there are loads of theories and speculation about the actual percentage. I have read authoritative websites on ADHD where they say that if there are parents or other siblings in the family who already have ADHD, the newborn is five times more likely to have ADHD or develop it during their childhood. Very often, of course, there is an ADHD parent in the family who is completely unaware of his or her condition because it has never been diagnosed!

If you are expecting a boy, then the risks of him having ADHD are about three times greater than if you were expecting a girl.

Minimizing the risks.
During pregnancy mothers should avoid any use of alcohol, cigarettes and recreational drugs like marijuana. Research has shown that the higher number of cigarettes smoked seemed to have a correlation with the severity of the ADHD symptoms. Alcohol is a controversial issue as a number of studies have come up with different results. Some studies say that alcohol consumption during pregnancy will make no difference at all while others have proved the opposite. Given that alcohol can harm your baby in other ways, it is simply best to be a teetotaller for nine months!

So there you have it. A few simple precautions can reduce the risk of having children with ADHD. If you already have a child or partner with ADHD, you may be interested in having a look at my site where I have outlined some natural treatment solutions for children with ADHD. You will see there that there are many ways we can support an ADHD child. Why not check it out?