Birth Defect Effect

Child is a gift from God. Every parent hopes for a healthy child. However, abnormalities in the fetus growth becoming common nowadays. These may be due to physical, radiation and chemical factors. These factors will cause deformities such as genetic mutation which causes mental retardation, abnormal body buildup and other conditions which bring a lot of troubles in the future to the child themselves and their parents. Modern technologies and innovations in the medical field had developed a method to detect the abnormality before delivery and prevent this future tragedy to happen. This method is known as prenatal screening. There are several advantages and disadvantages of prenatal screening.

Did you ever consider everything that has to go exactly right for a baby to be born with out any birth defects, prematurity, or low birth weight? The answer is a lot, and according to the March of Dimes more then 460,000 babies are born prematurely every year in the United States alone (March of Dimes website). Recently, this statistic hit closer to home when a close friend of mine gave birth to her first child. At five months she was informed that her baby would be born prematurely with a hole in its diaphragm, a birth defect that could mean life or death. When the time came to deliver, the doctors performed a caesarean section. With the help of supporting organizations and

Premature birth is an important public health priority in terms of health of women and infants. Every year an estimated 15 million preterm babies are born and this number is still rising (WHO, 2015).In 2014, 1 of every 10 babies born in United States were premature and black infants were 50% more likely to be born premature than white, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific islander infants (CDC,2015). Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of premature birth (WHO, 2015). Major survivors face lifelong disabilities like learning disabilities, hearing, visual, feeding, digestive, breathing and respiratory problems (CDC, 2015) and low birth weight (March of Dimes, 2014). A major challenge in decreasing the rate of preterm birth is

It is easy to see that the medical abilities and tools we had 50 years ago are nothing in comparison to what we have today. Among these advances has been the extent to which we can prevent illness and disability. Fetal surgery first emerged in the 1980’s by Dr Michael Harrison aka “the father of fetal surgery,” when he decided to look into ways doctors could fix certain defects before birth to avoid their inevitable, devastating consequences. It has since expanded its practice to a number of hospitals across the country, although it is still an uncommon procedure. It involves opening up the mother 's uterus (just as a doctor would during a caesarean section) so that the fetus is exposed as much as needed to be operated on. The fetus is then put back and the uterus is closed until it is time for the mother to go into labor. The fetus is never detached from the mother and is essentially being operated on while inside the womb (Smajdor). While it may seem like a positive life changing procedure, there are many perspectives out there that support

Birth defects, also known as congenital anomalies, is the second leading cause of death for infant accounted for 20.9 percent of all infant deaths in U.S in 2011 (U.S. Dept, 2016).

Premature birth is a public health crisis because it is responsible for 75 percent of infant

The main function of the Birth Defect Registry is to: “(i) collect information on birth defect incidence by state; (ii) monitor annual trends in birth defect occurrence and mortality; (iii) conduct research studies to identify generic and environmental risk factors for birth defects; and (iv) promote educational activities for the prevention of birth defects” (Bowie & Green, 2016).

Shah then goes on to state how cesarean surgeries may be beneficial, or may not be beneficial to the mother, but are most likely unbeneficial to the newborn, unless there is a serious threat. Shah states, “ … that those born by cesarean were significantly more likely to develop chronic immune disorders.” of which he acquired from a Danish study from two million children born at full term. In contrast Dr.Shah states how many of his patients benefit from his surgeries, even though he stated previously how dangerous they were, and how he gets to save lives and bring new ones into the world. Finally, Shahs closing remarks are on how to fix the overuse of C-sections. Shah states how natural birth is the preferred way to go and that cesarean surgeries should be only for emergency use only and not for choice. In addition, Dr.Shah goes on to say how a perfect way to fix the overuse is to take the “British way” and to “...stay away from obstetricians altogether - at least until you need

“Lifetime costs have been estimated at $6 billion for those infants born in a single year with 1 or more of 17 major birth defects” .

Technology is quickly advancing, and many opportunities only dreamt about previously have developed. One of these opportunities arising is designing your baby. Currently, scientist can eliminate genetic diseases or screen for gender, and in the future, will be able to choose various traits. Pursuing this research of designer babies is creating a conflict though. Through multiple techniques, scientists can alter the embryo to the parent’s desire but while this has numerous benefits, there are also many concerns.

Disability: Any child that has a disability such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy could have a huge physical effect on how they will develop. Spina bifida takes place when a child’s spinal cord did not develop correctly while the mum was pregnant. As a result of this a child legs could be partially or fully paralysed and that they could have a curvature on their spine. They could have difficulties controlling themselves when going to the toilet and have deformities in their bones and joints. A child with a physical disability could be at a disadvantage in so many way for E.G. if it were that had restricted movement, then they could find it hard to join in with things just like sports, putting Lego together, staking up things, putting toys

The dream of every expectant mother is to give birth to a healthy baby when the nine months elapse. However, the culture of uncertainty among eager mothers has engulfed their thoughts of the possibility of giving birth to children with disabilities. As a result, they have turned to clinics for prenatal screening with a hope of getting a clean bill of health from medical practitioners about their current situation. All these efforts are not in vain in their minds as long as they are assured their babies will not have Down’s syndrome or any other birth defect. These frantic efforts pertain image of a society that dread disability. With the bold writings on the societal wall, people with disabilities have legitimate worries about the way in which prenatal screening is handled in our culture.

Areas that are focused on and covered by Jane E. Brody in her article are the amount of breakthroughs and advances that have taken place in the medical field revolving around screening tests for disabilities in unborn children. She examines the variety of tests that are available to women and explains what each are able to detect. In the article there are quotes and statistics that are provided which help the audience get a better understanding of how important tests like these are. The author offers a precise view into the techniques that have made the screenings safer and more practical for women.

With the increasing number of women in the professional workforce who start their families in their late 30’s, hospitals are progressively encountering newborns with severe disabilities. Impaired babies have physical and cognitive disabilities, need frequent visits to the doctor and are more dependent on their parents. We’re faced with the complex dilemma of whether the lives neonates born with major complications should be prolonged by surgical intervention.

Nature has a cruel way of dooming innocent children to horribly short and painful lives. Genetically inherited diseases such as hemophilia and Downs syndrome could be identified and treated while the baby is still in the mothers womb. This could spare countless innocent