What are birth defects?
Causes:
- Congenital abnormalities are structural changes present at birth that can affect any part of the body
- They affect how the body looks, works, or both
- The lifespan of a person with a birth defect may or may not be affected as well as their quality of life, depending on which part of the body is affected
- Can be found before birth, at birth, or any time after birth.
- Most are found within the first year of a child’s life, but others may not be detected until later on.
- Some physical birth defects like cleft lip are easy to see but others like heart defects are found through testing.
Causes:
- genetics (history of birth defect in the family)
- Environmental: infectious diseases (rubella), maternal diseases (diabetes), drugs, alcohol, smoking, and environmental pollutants. This category makes up 15% of birth defects.
- Smoking, drinking, street drugs during pregnancy
- Having uncontrolled diabetes while pregnant
- Taking certain medications
- Having a history of a birth defect in family
- Having a baby when mother is over 35 years old
