LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Birth Defect: Birth Defects
built 629 days ago
Birth defect prevention is, in many ways, out of parent''s hands. Employers, doctors, and others have a duty to take certain measures to prevent birth defects. For example, employers are required to provide adequate personal protection to protect workers from hazardous substances. Doctors have a duty to conduct prenatal testing, identify possible risk factors and do what is possible to prevent birth defects. Pharmaceutical companies have a duty to ensure their product is safe for patients and to disclose all risks to consumers about the possibility of side effects, including birth defects. Others ... have a duty to prevent birth defects.
Source:
Birth defects can ... result from physical conditions affecting the health of the mother. One common maternal condition associated with birth defects is diabetes mellitus, a multifactorial disorder. Mothers with diabetes have a two-to three-fold times greater risk of having a child with birth defects than the general population if their condition is not well controlled. However, good glucose control has been shown to correlate with a decreased risk of congenital malformations. Characteristic diabetic malformations include cardiovascular, craniofacial, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and neurological abnormalities. The risk that the child born of a mother with diabetes mellitis will also develop diabetes as an adult is 1 to 3 percent.
Source:
Birth defects affect nearly one in every 33 babies born in the United States each year. Birth defects are the primary cause of infant deaths, accounting for more than 20%. Babies born with birth defects have a larger chance of illness and long-term disability than babies without birth defects. Birth defects occur while a baby is developing in the mother’s body. Birth defects can be discovered up to one year of birth, with the majority of birth defects detected within the first 3 months of pregnancy. The severity of birth defects can range from mild, where a surgery can correct the birth defect or to serious, leading to death.
Source:
Birth defects happen before a baby is born. Inherited or genetic factors; things in the environment, such as smoking or drinking alcohol or not getting enough folic acid; and a woman’s illness during pregnancy can cause birth defects. Most birth defects happen in the first 3 months of pregnancy, when the organs of the baby are forming. This is the most important stage of development. However, some birth defects happen later in pregnancy. During the last six months of pregnancy, the tissues and organs continue to grow and develop.
Source:
Australia's drug watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, reported that as a result of the above study, one in 25 babies born to mothers taking Paxil had a birth defect. Half of the birth defects were heart problems, but most was non-life threatening. The study ... found that women who took Paxil instead of other antidepressants during the first trimester of pregnancy were more likely to have a child with a birth defect. Birth defects normally occur at a rate of about three in 100. Heart defects occur one in every 100 to 200 babies.
Source:
Birth defects can affect almost any part of a baby’s body. Approximately 1 out of every 100 to 200 babies born each year are diagnosed with a heart defect. Brain and spine defects are other regular birth defects. These birth defects affect an estimated 1 of 1,000 pregnancies. Brain and spine birth defects are less frequent than heart defects, but they often cause many fetal and infant deaths. Birth defects of the lip and roof of the mouth are ... common. These types of birth defects, are known as orofacial clefts, and consist of cleft lip, cleft palate, and combined cleft lip and cleft palate. Cleft lip is more common than cleft palate.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Birth Defects