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A "birth defect" is a health problem or physical change, present in a
baby at the time he/she is born. Birth defects may be very mild where
the baby looks and acts like any other baby, or birth defects may be
very severe(you can immediately tell there is a health problem present).
Some of the severe birth defects can be life threatening, in which case
a baby may only live a few months or may die at a young age (in their
teens, for example).
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Birth defects are also called "congenital anomalies" or "congenital
abnormalities." The word "congenital" means "present at birth." The
words "anomalies" and "abnormalities" mean that there is a problem
present in a baby.
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Most babies are born healthy. In fact, 96 to 97 out of every 100
babies born are born healthy. About three or four out of every 100
babies born, however, have some type of birth defect.
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There are many reasons why birth defects happen. Most occur due to
environmental and genetic factors, but often the cause is unknown.
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Birth defects have been present in babies from all over the world, in
families of all nationalities and backgrounds. Any time a couple become
pregnant, there is a chance that their baby will have a birth defect.
As mentioned above, this chance is three to four out of 100, or 3 to 4
percent. This means that there is a 96 to 97 percent chance, with each
pregnancy, for a baby to be born normal and healthy. The 3 to 4 percent
number is sometimes called the background rate for birth defects or the
population risk for birth defects.
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In a family where birth defects are already present, the chance for a
couple to have a child with a birth defect may be higher than the
background rate of 3 to 4 percent.
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When a baby is born with a birth defect, the first question usually
asked by the parents is "how did this happen?" Sometimes, this question
cannot be answered. This can be very upsetting for parents because it is
normal to seek an answer as to why your baby has a health problem. For
some birth defects, there is a known cause, which may have to do with
either genetic or environmental factors, or a combination of the two.
Here is some general information and terms related to the different
causes of birth defects:
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- Inheritance — Inheritance is a word used to describe a trait
given to you or 'passed on' to you from one of your parents. Examples of
inherited traits are eye color or blood type.
- Chromosome Abnormalities — Chromosomes are stick-like
structures in the center of each cell (called the nucleus) that contain
your genes.
- Single Gene Defects — Genes are what determine traits. A child
can inherit not only those genes responsible for their normal traits,
such as the color of their eyes, but also disease-causing genes that
result in a birth defect.
- Multifactorial Inheritance — Multifactorial inheritance means
that 'many factors' (multifactorial) are involved in causing a birth
defect. The factors are usually both genetic and environmental.
- Teratogens — A teratogen is an agent, that can cause a birth
defect. It is usually something in the environment that the mother is
exposed to during her pregnancy. It could be a prescribed medication, a
street drug, alcohol use or a disease that the mother has, which can
increase the chance for the baby to be born with a birth defect.
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Нумерология
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