Causes Of Birth Defects

Smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy could lead to the placenta not developing fully. As the placenta carries oxygen and blood to the foetus this may impair growth and link to low birth weights. Babies born to smoking mothers are 30% more likely to have a premature baby which could lead to respiratory distress, problems feeding and they could have difficulty regulating their body temperature. Babies undergo withdrawal like systems and tend to be more jittery and harder to settle. Babies being brought up in a smoking household are at increased risk of cot death and may go on to develop asthma during childhood.

Substance abuse has been a worldwide problem at all levels of society since the beginning of time. Attention has been made toward the use of legal and illegal substance by pregnant women over the past several decades. Almost all drugs are known to cross the placenta and have some effect on the fetus. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) the first studies of the effect of substances consumed by a pregnant women to the developing fetus were identified in the 1960’s of prenatal tobacco use. These studies opened the door to further research and studies. The effects of Alcohol and opiate use have been studied since the 1970’s (Jones, Smith, 1973) and the effects of a variety of other drugs have been studied since 1979 and early 1980’s (Flinnegan, 1979).

Therefore, planned pregnancy is a huge key factor in preventing birth defects, because often times birth defects develop even before women might know they are pregnant. Because women don’t know they are pregnant, they may consume alcohol, causing harm to their babies. Smoking causes harm to infants before, during, and after pregnancies. Even in the womb nicotine, carbon monoxide, and many other poisons women inhale from cigarettes are carried through their bloodstream. Smoking while pregnant causes many developmental issues including birth defects, lung problems, stunted growth, increase in babies heart rates, low birth weight, or result in stillbirths. However, there are many other agents known to cause these developmental defects. For example, drugs and other medications such as; thalidomide, isotretinoin, valproic acid, methotrexate, and mycophenolate mofetil are also known to cause the same birth defects (Simeone, et al., 2015). Putting healthy supplements, unlike these types of drugs into individuals systems when pregnant can help prevent infant

Pathophysiology: Tobacco smoke contains 1000 different compounds including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, carcinogens. The two main compounds that cause harmful effects on a developing fetus is nicotine and carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide has a higher affinity than oxygen for hemoglobin. Which when Carbon monoxide and hemoglobin combine they form boxy hemoglobin which is unable to carry oxygen, which leads to decreased oxygen delivery to the fetus and fetal hypoxia. Nicotine has cardiovascular and central nervous system effects. Nicotine is known to cross the placental barrier causing levels in the amniotic fluid and fetus 15% higher than the mother. The effects of cigarettes can remain with the fetus the rest of their lives. Ranging from

Throughout the embryonic stage, 2 weeks to 8 weeks, many important developments are forming. “The embryo develops three layers, which ultimately forms a different set of structures as development proceeds. The layers are as follows: Ectoderm- skin, hair, teeth, sense organs, brain, and spinal cord. Endoderm- digestive system, liver, pancreas, and respiratory system. Mesoderm- muscles, bones, blood, and circulatory system” (Feldman, 2011 pg. 59). In this stage nicotine affects several of these developments. Nicotine can affect the growth of the lungs, causing problems later. It can also affect the tissue and skeletal growth, placenta blood flow and oxygen deprivation, and restrict the nutrients a fetus receives due to constricted uterine blood vessels. “It may primarily affect fetal peripheral tissue and skeletal growth. Fetal femur length is already affected from the second trimester onwards. Recently, it has been shown that first trimester fetal growth, as measured by crown-rump length, is also affected by maternal smoking” (Bakker,

The relationship between maternal smoking and fetal development shows that smoking raises the risk of early miscarriage and stillbirth. In the early stages of fetal development, cigarette smoke may cause genetic damage to the unborn baby. Smoking can change the lining of the uterus making it harder for the implantation of the fertilized egg. The dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes can cause a mother’s placenta to separate from the womb at a premature time. Smoking later in pregnancy appears to decrease the placenta’s ability to deliver nutrients to a developing baby. Some evidence even indicates that heavy smoking by

Infants born from mothers that smoked are three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a condition in which babies who appears healthy die suddenly while sleeping, as are babies whose mothers do not smoke during pregnancy. This is also a point of contention between researchers as well. "Children born to mothers who smoked while pregnant, and possibly children whose grandmothers smoked while pregnant, have a higher risk of developing childhood asthma (Child)." Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to be born with birth defects such as cleft lip or palate and to have low birth weight.

Smoking and illicit drugs play a factor in birth defects. Smoking can cause low- birth weight, heart disease, respiratory issues and, have been linked to cleft palate. Poor control of diabetes is a major risk factor of birth defects. Women who do not get screened or remain in compliance with treatment recommendations suffer and as a result infants die because of poorly control

Some of the common things that are seen happening to babies when the mother smokes is babies born prematurely, too small or dying off before they are even born at all. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including things like cyanide, lead, and at least 60 cancer-inducing compounds (Chris Woolston). When the baby’s only source of oxygen and nutrients is via your bloodstream, they will be consuming this toxic brew from the cigarettes because it goes no other place than the very bloodstream your unborn child feeds and breathes from. Out of those 4,000-plus compounds there are two in particular that are especially dangerous to your baby: nicotine and carbon monoxide. These toxins account for just about every smoking-related complication in pregnant. (Ob-gyn James

One of the most dangerous substances to human kind can be purchased for a reasonable price and consumed by the most unreasonable people. Alcohol, a psychoactive drug, found within many adult beverages causes countless problems for people suffering from addiction but even more devastating are the mothers who drink when pregnant. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a disorder that refers to mental and physical effects of an individual whose mother consumed large quantities of alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol can destroy neurons in a growing fetus along with causing problems with growth and weight. In the past, alcohol has been shown to be the number one leading factor in a raise of individuals suffering intellectual disabilities. The symptoms of the disorder are wide while the causes are quite limited. Many mothers may understand the effects of alcohol on a growing fetus and continuously ignore them, while others abstain completely to avoid any disabilities. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a complex disorder that can be easily prevented by avoiding alcohol, yet it is still highly seen in modern day communities. The disorder can be distinguished easily from others because of its wide variety of symptoms. The causes of this disorder are also widely known to originate from a mothers use of alcohol and the effects on livelihoods have been documented. There are several treatments available for individuals suffering from this disorder and some may help restore normal lives to those

Tobacco use also correlates with the amount of milk a mother is able to produce. According to Lisa Amir and Susan Donath “nicotine levels in breastmilk of women who smoke are almost three times higher than the level in the mother’s blood”. That quotes shows how tobacco use will affect the mother as well as the child when its born. A mother’s milk is a major component for the child to continue to receive nutrients after they are birthed. Therefore for a mother to use tobacco use while pregnant will cause issue. Likewise, tobacco use affects the placenta for example, “ Smoking can cause problems with the placenta—the source of the baby 's food and oxygen during pregnancy. For example, the placenta can separate from the womb too early, causing bleeding, which is dangerous to the mother and baby” (Tobacco use and pregnancy. Web). That quotes proves

Different studies and different recourses show that about 1 in 33 babies that are born in the U.S have a birth defect. I decided to use this known fact from the Human Biology thirteenth edition textbook by Sylvia S. Mader and Michael Windelpecht due to the fact that not many people know or even care to think about it— that is— unless it happened to them or someone in their own circle. In order to understand how to prevent and test for a birth defect you need to understand some common definitions and words that can be used while reading about the topic. For starters, as stated in the merriam-webster dictionary, the medical definition of defect is “a lack or deficiency of something necessary for adequacy in form or function.” Another word that is used a lot when talking about this subject matter is test and testing. Based on the medical definition a test is “a diagnostic procedure for determining the presence or nature of a condition or disease or for revealing a change in function.” From this definition you can see how the word test is also used in medical vocabulary to see what is wrong with a patient so the doctors can determine what to do next. The last term that I want to explain briefly before continuing is one that people might get confused with, it is the word prevent. Although it might seem like an easy word people still confuse it with the act of curing someone. The dictionary without a doubt states that the word prevent means “to keep from happening or existing”

Birth defects in babies are serious functional or structural abnormalities that are present at birth in 3%(“approximately 120,000”(Simeone 1104) ) of infants in the United States each year. There are quite a few different types of defects that you may not even be able to see on the infant at first. It could be something developmental that will only get worse as they get older. If you believe that birth defects are only caused by women doing illegal drugs and drinking while pregnant, you’re wrong. It could be a complete genetic disorder that the baby has inherited or a chromosome problem where the baby is missing even just a part or a whole chromosome and in some cases gains an extra. Sometimes before the baby, is born you are able to do

“There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.” Robert M. Hensel says that, to look at a person with a disability and think nothing more of them is a disability for us. Birth defects are abnormalities mostly found in infants. There are many issues that come along with having a birth defect but some can be prevented. Analyzing all that is known in accordance to birth defects can help us look for more solutions in minimizing birth defect rates. For this reason education for pregnant women regarding birth defects needs to be more prevalent in the medical community.

Smoking starts causing harm, even to the unborn. A mother is a baby`s only form of life support through the umbilical cord. So,