[Effects of alcohol in the embryo, fetus, and newborn infant (author's transl)].

At delivery the newborn infant of a drunken mother had a bloodalcohol concentration of about 2.0%. The elimination rate was calculated to be 0.08%/h. The infant exhibited obvious features of an embryofetal alcohol syndrome. Several cases from literature are cited with ethanol given for therapeutic purpose in obstetrics and bloodalcohol concentration exceeding to 1%-2%. This means that values up to 2% in newborn infants without any other pathological findings should not solely be accepted as cause of death in forensic cases.