Random Info

Birth defects happen all the time. I, like most others out there, just kind of assumed as long as you took your vitamins, were "healthy" and not a crack head, your child would be born "normal". GUESS WHAT!? Not so much. Birth defects are shockingly common. I snagged the info below from a bunch of different sites. The addresses for each bit of info are listed below. Anyone pregnant or thinking about having a kid should definatly check up on the scariness and reality of babies being born with birth defects.


Limb defects occur in about 1 in 2,560 births, with defects of the arms/hands being much more common than those of the legs/feet (0.36 per 1000 and 0.14 per 1000 births, respectively).

http://www.cbdmp.org/bd_limb.htm



Physical Restraint on Limb Development
Examples
Amniotic Bands
These can appear on ultrasound as a band of membranes lying within the uterine
cavity. ( Figure 1) Why they should form is not clear. One theory is that bands are
formed as a reaction to rupture of the amniotic sac in early pregnancy. The
pregnancy carries on but this band of tissue becomes attached to the developing
fetus and affects subsequent growth in that area.
Various anomalies can be caused by amniotic bands ranging from minor
constrictions of digits to cleft lip and palate.
The recurrence risk in subsequent pregnancies is negligible.

www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/documents/416/Limb reduction defects.pdf




Limb reduction defects that were associated with known hereditary disorders (15%), chromosome abnormalities (6%), specific malformation syndromes (5%), and unclassified but familial phenotypes (4%) accounted for 30% of the limb defects identified (Table 4). In addition, 3.9% of the infants had been exposed to recognized teratogens, either misoprostol22 or maternal diabetes. Therefore, the balance (66%) had other causes, divided almost equally between vascular disruption (34%) and no recognized cause (32%), such as absent fibula.

pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/108/4/e64 - 99k




Birth defects affect about 120,000 babies born in the United States each year. Birth defects account for more than 20% of infant deaths and contribute substantially to life-long disabilities.

The causes of about 70% of all birth defects are unknown. Various occupational hazards, dietary factors, medications, personal habits, and environmental exposures may contribute to birth defects, but many questions remain about the exact nature of their influence.

www.peacehealth.org/kbase/cam/hn-1168007.htm



http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes/skmus72.htm