Estimating the neurocognitive effects of an early intervention program for children with prenatal alcohol exposure

Background: Animal studies suggest that early intervention in pups exposed heavily to ethanol in utero can mitigate their neurocognitive damage. No human studies on this promising mechanism exists. Methods: Breaking the Cycle is an early intervention program for drug-and alcohol addicted mothers and their young children. We compared BSID-III scores between infants heavily exposed to ethanol and a group exposed only to drugs of abuse, mainly cocaine. Both groups benefited from all aspects of our early intervention program. Results: The two groups did not differ in any aspect of the BSID-III. These data are in contradistinction to the damage seen in heavily ethanol- exposed infants not benefiting from early intervention. Conclusions: This pilot suggests that early intervention may mitigate some of the well described damages caused by heavy in utero alcohol exposure.